Until It's Gone
by SoulReaperNinja713
Summary: She lived her life to the fullest, spending all of her time outside basking in the sunlight of her island. She had it all, but now, it was all gone. That saying - "You don't know what you've got until it's gone" - is more powerful than one may think. This is the story of Abigail Mason, and how she barely survived the place she called home. :Later LoganOC; Mentions OCxOC: :Part 1/4:
1. Prologue

"You don't know what you've got until it's gone."

When I heard that statement for the first time from some guy one day - back when I was a teenager in high school - I actually laughed at it, debunked it as useless words from some stranger t whom I had never met. At the time, it had no meaning to me at all, but that was because I did not fully understand the meaning behind the words. _What do you mean by that?_ I asked him when I stopped laughing. The man told me that I should cherish the things I have before it was too late. Those words only made me laugh even more than before. When I came to my senses and calmed down a bit, I told him with confidence and pride that I _did_ cherish the things I had, loved everything and never took it for granted like the "other materialistic people outside the island." I had a perfect life that I could say I was proud to have: a family, friends, a roof over my head, food on my plate, you name it. That was what I said to him, and I told him without hesitation and with a pride that said to him "She appreciates what she's got in her life." It was not exactly word for word what I said to him, but I am hoping you get the gist of what I am talking about.

Unfortunately, despite saying that so confidently to his face - and with my chest childishly puffed out as if I was trying to prove a point - over time, it changed completely. When I look back at everything that has happened thus far, I did not really think that my words were true anymore. Every word that I had spoken became false.

The realization of this unfortunate truth brought me to tears, tears that were hidden by the rains of the monsoon that finally struck the island of Banoi, the island I had called my one true home for so long. They flowed faster than the blood that seeped out of my wound on my shoulder, one I held onto with my free hand in a futile attempt to stop it. My body was shaking both from the seeping blood and with the revelation closing in on my already broken and shattered mind. Thunder cracked loudly against the darkened skies, as if it was right next to my ears, yet I did not flinch at all as I stared out at what was once my beautiful island, my beautiful home, with wide hazel eyes. The time for leaving the island forever was upon me.

In a way, one could say that I was leaving the island for bigger and better things in my future. That I was leaving everything behind for a better life or to seek out a career in the "big city," but I would disagree immediately with those ridiculous accusations. I was not going to leave for a better future. Hell, I was never going to leave the island at all! My future, from what I saw when I was just a little girl, was here; it was on Banoi Island. For twenty-five years of my life, Banoi had been the place I refused to leave for some other life in the outside world. I hated that place and wanted to stay here forever. Everything I could ever want was on the island, and there was no reason to leave to see the world. Granted, I was asked to leave the island once, telling me that the life outside the island was not as bad as I had made out to be. (I thought about it, but never got around to giving a straightforward response to him.) At least, that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life; live out my life on Banoi. If you asked me why I was leaving such a wonderful place, then I would tell you one thing in response something that you would never expect:

"To save my ass from the fucking zombies that littered the island."

As selfish as it sounds to some, it _is_ the truth. I would say it with the most serious face anyone could ever put on, as it was no joking matter when I could die at any point in time. I was leaving the island so I could live and get away from the creatures that now bombarded my home like vultures to a rotting carcass...literally. I had nothing else here to call my own anymore; it was gone now. Everything that I had grown up living with was gone, and it was thanks to those damned demons. The monsters that screeched and moaned restlessly for days at a time, searching for something – or someone – to feast on were the ones to blame. You would understand if you were placed in the same situation I was in. If you were living in a place for your entire life only for it to get struck full force by a zombie outbreak, you would want to get the fuck out of there as fast as you can. Whether it is an island or a big city like New York or Chicago, you would want to get the fuck out. Unfortunately, even though I say that, even I am still having some trouble deciding whether or not I want to leave and ditch the life I had grown so used to in order to survive. In other words, it is easier saying that everyone will leave their home of so many years than doing it. And I was stuck in a rut when it came to that damned saying.

It is no easy thing to do, leaving the place where all of my friends lived (since there was no one else – or just one, I guess – outside the island to call friend). Besides, there were so many memories that I remember so vividly in my mind, memories that would make me stay here despite the shithole Banoi turned into in just a short few weeks. They were memories I wanted to go back to, days I wanted to relive again in order to avoid the place I was in now and be happy again. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I wished, no matter how much I begged to whatever being was kind enough to hear me, there was no possible way that something like that could ever happen. At the moment, the being that predicted this shit was here, fucking with everyone and everything in sight with not so much as a care in the world. I could not go back to the life I had, I could not go back to the past; I could only go forward.

But will forward be better than this?

By now, you are probably wondering who I am and how I came to be in the middle of this outbreak. Well, I am not some celebrity coming to visit the resort, as you may have noticed. I am not some producer taking a day off, but an inhabitant. I lived here for twenty-five years and never wanted to leave. I had everything and I lost it all. I suppose that old saying "You don't know what you've got until it's gone" is more true than any other saying I have ever heard, and it will forever haunt me until the day I die.

My name is Abigail Mason, and this is my story. This is the story of how I _just barely_ survived the outbreak on Banoi Island: my home, my life, and eventually, my downfall.


	2. Late Night Mishaps

**_A Few Weeks Ago..._**

**_Royal Palms Resort, Banoi Island_**

"Do we really have to go to this?" I questioned nervously, nibbling on my lower lip as I watched men and women alike walk past us and toward the beach party that was taking place. "You know social gatherings aren't exactly my cup of soup…"

A pair of eyes fell upon me before an arm draped over my shoulder. It felt warm and comforting; two things that made me relax only a little.

"Relax, Abbey," the familiar voice of Nathan Rodgers spoke, causing me to look up at him with timid hazel colored eyes, my dark colored fringe bangs tickling my caramel forehead. Immediately, I spotted the childlike, innocent smile playing against his lips. "It's just a party. There's nothing to worry about."

Pouting my thin lips, I rolled my eyes and said, "Right, there's nothing more fun than drinking alcohol and standing around large groups of people at a party. I'm _so_ excited…"

Moving his arm to pull me closer to him by my waist in a loving manner, he placed a light kiss on my temple, making me blush and navigate my eyes. That was Nathan Rodgers; a man who was sweeter than a Hershey's chocolate bar. He seemed to know just the kind of moves to make and the words to say whenever I was off from the usual happy and independent demeanor that I gave off. He knew that I was not a very big fan of events like parties. The amount of people that are usually at things like that made me feel claustrophobic to the max. Not the kind that keeps me from being in enclosed spaces, I am talking about the kind where I am in a setting filled with large amounts of people in the same airspace. Fortunately, I had Nate, who was like the kryptonite to the claustrophobia. If I knew he was there with me, it would not seem so bad anymore. Unfortunately, there would be alcohol at the party. I had no problem with alcohol, mind you, and neither did Nate. The only issue I have with it is that whenever there was alcohol, Nate and I would get separated, and the claustrophobia would kick in to a point where I had to leave entirely without him. When that happened, Nate would look for me, more worried about my well being than upset over the fact that I left him behind. That was how he was, and I was just like it: we always put others before ourselves no matter what consequences fall upon us.

I suppose that was why we have been together for five long years.

"I know we've been separated a few times in the past, sweetie," he soothed me, kind blue eyes staring into my eyes in a comforting manner. "But I can assure you, it's not gonna happen again."

A smile broke out on my face as I stopped walking, allowing his arm to slip away from my waist. When he turned to look at me, his short, dirty blonde hair brushing over his eyes ever so slightly, I spoke.

"That's what you said last time. Remember?" It took him a moment to figure out what I was talking about before he started laughing, causing me to glare at him and raise an eyebrow.

"Of course I do, but it was an honest mistake!" He explained with a big smile. "I found Sinamoi nearby and had a chat with him about…uh…something! And besides, it was technically your fault, too."

Blinking, I gasped with surprise even if I knew he was teasing.

"_Me?!_ How was it my fault?"

"You were the one who kept walking even though you were standing right next to me the whole time!"

"I thought you were following me!" I crossed my arms over my chest, an annoyed pout plus an embarrassed blush appearing on my face. "How was I supposed to know Sinamoi was gonna be there?"

"It was near the beach and he was making sure no one went into the water after dark. _And _he's the head lifeguard. Remember?" Rolling my eyes and looking away, I heard him sigh before walking up to me. "Hey, I'm sorry that you were left behind and nearly had a panic attack in the middle of a crowd. If it happens again, head for the nearest bar and text me. I'll go look for you."

I looked back at him, staring into his sweet blue eyes as he sent me a reassuring gaze. Just as I had said before, he just knew the exact words to say and the motions to make when it came to convincing me to do things I disliked. It was as if he had put on a permanent puppy dog gaze, one that always seemed to work against me. There were days when I hated it – like now – and days when I could not resist it. Nate was like a cute little five year old with a sweet little grin and holding a teddy bear to his face. That was what I saw in those eyes of his; it was what made me fall for him so easily. Then again, there were days when I did not want to do something, such as go to parties with people I did not know all that well. Sure, there were a few faces I recognized within the huge crowds, but it was not enough to calm me down. I never went because I feared having a panic attack and causing a scene. Causing a scene was one thing I _really_ did not want to experience. Unfortunately, Nathan would never take no for an answer; he was much too persistent. His reason was because he wanted to see me happy and not worry about "causing a scene." As much as I agreed with him, it was something that I always wanted to avoid. Nevertheless, "no" was not in his vocabulary; therefore it was not an option in this situation, thus making me the loser.

Sighing with annoyance, I shook my head and lowered it. After a brief moment of silence, I looked back at him, a small smile gracing my lips.

"Okay, fine." I stated. "But I better see you come running through the crowds if I get lost and text you. Who knows what kind of people will be there…"

Grinning, he pulled me in a quick hug before we continued our way, realizing we were the only few people left in the lobby; the exceptions being a few stragglers and the hotel receptionists. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Nate and I continued to make our way out of the hotel, waving to the few people we recognized from the hotel as we did. I was still surprised and curious as to how and why he wanted to come to the Royal Palms Hotel. He knew full well that I lived on the island, but when I asked him why he gave me only one response: "Well, for starters, to get away from your parents for once. And the second…it's a surprise." I pursed my lips at the memory, recalling how my parents did not approve of him. Even after five long years, they were extremely skeptical about him. In my opinion, they had no reason to feel that way. Nathan was a gentleman – literally – and treated them with respect. He had a job in New York City, a well paying job at an insurance company; a car, a home. Everything he owned he obtained with his blood, sweat, and tears. He seemed like the typical, all around, nice young man just looking for a companion to call his own. He had some ups and downs with his previous lovers, but none of them, according to him, were as perfect as me. (I begged to differ, but he told me it was the truth. Besides, after hearing what he went through, it made me wonder).

Unfortunately, there was only one thing that my parents _hated_ about him, one thing that immediately caused them to dislike him as much as they did; he was _extremely_ paranoid about zombies taking over the world.

That was the only flaw in him, a flaw that was not as bad as they assumed. He turned paranoid after having watched too many zombie movies and checking the internet as to whether or not a zombie apocalypse was possible. Frankly, much to his dismay, I did not believe such a ridiculous tall tale as zombies and the undead. Once someone died, that person was dead. Enough said. That was what I had said to him, but he claimed otherwise. My parents believed he was mentally insane for thinking such a way (and after he locked himself in his room for three days when he thought there was a zombie on the island), but I did not want to leave him. I knew what kind of person Nathan was at heart and refused to let his mind ruin the relationship we held for five long years. Of course, I told him straight out that I did not completely agree with his accusations of a zombie apocalypse, yet he still tried to convince me from time to time. My parents wanted me to find someone more "level headed" and "out of the world of fantasies and whatnot." Funny thing was I was exactly the same way…sort of.

I was never level headed to begin with, always having my head in the clouds and thinking outside the box. Although I never wanted to leave the island to explore the world, knowing it was an economical nightmare, I fantasized what kind of world it should have been. Most of the time, I thought it should have been a lot like Banoi; maybe not as beautiful as it could never compare, but more on the peaceful side of things. My home was peaceful, ethereal, hence why I believe it was such a tourist attraction (that or all the damn alcohol and illegal issues that went on). Nevertheless, I saw it as a place where everyone can come to escape their busy lives and get away from the world they called "Hell." That was how Banoi was; it was how it always was to me.

Before I knew it, I realized we had finally reached the party. It was not hard to miss; judging by the thumping music, wandering passerby, and drunken idiots I would say we had arrived. Frowning, I felt my chest constrict tightly as we continued to walk. I felt Nate's eyes fall upon me, as if he sensed my tension, and placed an arm over my shoulders.

"You've got nothing to worry about, Abbey," he assured me. "Nothing is gonna happen."

As I looked up at him, a giddy voice called us out. I looked forward and spotted a young woman running up to us, a childlike grin playing against her face.

"Nate! Abbey!" She called again, slowing down to a jog as she approached us. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a few of the men that were nearby looking over her slim physique, staring at her behind for a considerable about of time before moving up. She was oblivious to their stares, that or she did not care as she embraced us both. "I'm so glad you guys made it!" She said, pulling back and brushing her red, side-swept bangs out of her face while her short, choppy black hair fluttered in the light breeze. "You both look amazing! Didn't I tell you shopping with me was the better deal?"

A smile formed on my lips.

"For once, I'd have to agree with you, Rose," I said. "I can't trust Nate to pick out anything. I'm afraid it'll look too…skimpy."

"What?" Nathan looked at me, surprised. "I don't pick out skimpy outfits!"

Rose and I laughed at his childish pout.

"Sorry to tell you, but you kinda do…" Rose stated with a sheepish grin, her emerald green eyes holding a hint of sympathy. Nathan said nothing as he looked away. It was then that she looked back at me again and said, "Well, enough standing around. Let's go have some fun!"

With that, she turned around and walked back to the party, her hourglass figure swaying with every step she took. Nate and I followed her up the steps, staying close to each other to avoid getting separated again. The sound of music and chatter grew louder as we made it to the top, and the lights laminating from the stage nearly blinded me a few times. Immediately, I noticed people dancing about, some grinding against each other and some just dancing with friends. I spotted Rose up ahead, stopping to chat with a guy friend of hers before motioning us to come over. We silently moved over to her direction, while I looked around nervously to avoid any groups of people. When we approached what I believed was Rose's small group of friends, she introduced us to them, to which I simply waved sheepishly.

"Nate, Abbey, I'd like you to be my buddies! This is Ruby," She pointed to a petite brunette with big green eyes, "Max," she pointed to a buff young man with black hair and blue eyes, "and Penelope," she, finally, pointed to a woman with brown hair and brown eyes. Each friend gave their own version of salutation toward.

"Nice to meet you!" Nate spoke happily. "Great to finally meet you all!"

It was Ruby that was the first to speak up.

"I'm guessing you two are together, right?" She questioned, folding her hands and smiling as if she were playing innocent.

"Oh yeah, we're together. Been that way for five years," he explained, looking down at me just as I looked at him.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Max exclaimed. "Five years?! I could barely last a month with one girl."

"That's because their busy using you for sex, Max." Said Rose, earning a light glare from the dark haired man.

"How do you do it?" Ruby asked. "You know, to help Max see what he's doing wrong."

I smiled as Max glared at her and said, "Well, we started out as friends, of course. And…" I paused briefly before looking up at him, giving me a look that was asking if I should go on. When he nodded, I looked back at the others. "Sorry about that. Anyway, Nate was going through a tough relationship when we first met and, since he hates hurting people's feelings, he didn't want to break it off and hurt his ex-girlfriend." I said those words with a bit of distaste, since I happened to know Nate's ex too well. "Eventually, he and I got closer and closer and…well, as you can tell now."

"How touching," said Penelope, glancing at us from her drink and smiling lightly. "You look really well together."

"Thank you," I returned the smile immediately.

"All right, we're not here to chit chat, guys!" Rose exclaimed, running over and linking arms with me. "We came to party like it's the end of the fucking world!"

I felt my face turn pale at her words.

"Oh, uh, t-that's okay." I quickly spoke. "I don't dance. I've got two left feet, anyway."

Rose looked at me before laughing.

"So does Ruby, but that doesn't stop her!" She said just as Ruby got up from her seat with excitement written on her face. "Come on! It'll be fun to get away from your man for a while!"

Before I had any chance to say anything, Nate's presence next to me had vanished completely and Rose, Ruby, and I entered the crowd of dancing people. Within seconds, I could feel my lungs constricting tightly as my claustrophobia started to set in. The flashing lights were only making it worse for me as I looked around, hoping to spot Nate coming into the crowd to look for me. Unfortunately, due to the people surrounding me, I was unable to look around without making myself worse than before. Rose did not seem to notice the sudden change in my personality as we stopped right in the middle of the crowd and started dancing alongside Ruby, not a care in the world filling either of their minds. It was when Rose released me that it truly started to set in. I felt my chest becoming tighter and tighter with every breath I tried to take in, making it seem as if I were about to start hyperventilating. My hand fell onto my chest as I began moving back, brushing against a few people that surrounded me. The two girls did not notice as they continued dancing to the upbeat music, but I knew it was not intentional as they had no idea as to why I chose against dancing. Wordlessly (and while trying to keep myself from appearing as if I was having a heart attack), I turned around and began lightly pushing past people, keeping my head low and attempting to distract myself.

_How the fuck did I know this was going to happen?_ I asked myself as I continued to make my way out of the crowd. It may not have either of our faults, but I just knew this would happen for the second time! It was the main reason why I did not want to come tonight, but stay in the hotel room and spend time with Nathan. Unfortunately, he wanted to have a little fun before our "special day" tomorrow, only for it to turn into a disaster as I expected from the very beginning. I wanted him to enjoy himself, though, and I could not say no to him no matter how much I wanted to do so. It would break his heart and possibly ruin tomorrow for the both of us. Going with him would make him happy, and that was one thing I wanted him to be all the time. However, he would not be very happy for long seeing as how his girlfriend was near the brink of passing out from being in a large group for a period of time. Hopefully, he was searching for me, and hopefully I would be able to convince him to leave.

Looking forward, I realized I had finally escaped the crowd and was finally able to catch my breath, moving over to the nearest bar to take a seat and rest. Folding my arms on the table, I placed my forehead against them, my dark colored, single braid brushing against my right cheek. There were days when Nate annoyed the fucking hell out of me, like when he wanted to go out and have some fun, but I could not stay mad at him forever. As I had said before, it was not his fault I was dragged into the crowd by a friend who had no idea I did not do well in large groups of people. Then again, he was the one who convinced me to come, to which I just wanted to stay inside with him. In a way, he could be his fault, but at the moment I was too busy trying to catch my breath and calm my riled nerves.

Lifting my head only slightly, I glanced down at my red colored, spaghetti strap tank top covering the floral yellow and orange bikini top. Dark colored shorts shielded my matching bottoms from view, yet I still felt as if someone were watching me, eyeing me from a distance. Shaking the feeling off as quickly as possible, I dug into my pocket and pulled out my Blackberry, a piece of crap that tolerated on more than one occasion. I did not want to sit there waiting when it felt like every guy there was eyeing me like a crocodile eyeing its prey. I wanted Nate to come look for me as fast as possible, and I promised him that I would text him should a situation like this happen…again. Not wanting to waste anymore time sitting here, I immediately began typing in my message:

_Nate where are you? Nearly had a heart attack in the crowd! :'( I told you this would happen. Did what you said and am sitting at the closest bar I could find. Please come find me. I love you._

Sending the message, I placed my chin on my arms again but abruptly raised it after hearing a voice talk to me from behind the bar.

"Got lost in the big crowd, I see."

Hazel eyes widened as I glanced at a much more familiar face, one that calmed me down a little more.

"You know it, Raymond," I responded, feeling an embarrassed blush form on my cheeks. "I'm just trying to calm my nerves now…"

Raymond, a young man of twenty-seven with shaggy blonde hair and brown eyes, chuckled at my frazzled state of mind.

"And here you were hours ago claiming that history could repeat itself." He laughed heartily. "How right you were!" I rolled my eyes as I looked over the crowd in the hopes of seeing Nathan's face. When I looked back, I noticed a small glass of vodka sitting in front of me, causing me to glare at Raymond. "It's just a small shot, Abbey. It's not gonna kill you."

"It may not be able to kill me," I started, taking the small cup and drinking the bitter liquid in one gulp before continuing, "but with the right amount, it was once enough to make me lose my virginity."

"Hey, be glad it was to Nathan and not some stranger you met on the street," Raymond pointed out, pouring me another glass. "Can't really say what you would look like now if that happened to be the case."

Shaking my head, I drank the second glass swiftly, feeling more relaxed and less stressed out than before.

"That's it, Raymond. Only two shots," I told him as he poured another glass. "I don't wanna do something stupid behind Nate's back. _Especially_ when I'm even the slightest bit tipsy."

Raymond smiled; it was similar to the one Nathan gave to me on more than one occasion. He knew very well that I was a huge lightweight, but sometimes enjoyed giving me one too many just to see what I would turn into.

"That's just one for good luck," he stated. "Now if you'll excuse me," he glanced down the bar, "I've got some lovely ladies to chat with over there."

For the first time since my near panic attack minutes ago, I smiled and shook my head.

"Flirtatious dumbass," I teased, earning a laugh from the bartender as he left to chat with a few young girls – they appeared no older than twenty or so – with breasts that should _not_ have been placed on any woman; in my opinion, anyway.

When Raymond started chatting and flirting with the girls, my smile disappeared as I looked back down at my phone, noticing that I had received a text message. Feeling a little hopeful as to who it could have came from, I checked the message to see that it was, indeed, a response from Nathan. I began reading the text:

_Don't worry, babe. On the way. People just kept talking to me and wouldn't leave. Be there as soon as I can. I love you too :)_

Sighing with relief, I looked back out at the crowd, wondering if his face would appear just as I read his message. Did Rose's friends keep talking to him when I was taken into the crowd, or did he run into a few other people that we knew along the way? I would not be surprised if that happened to be the case, seeing as how a lot people would not want to miss a party as big as this. Nevertheless, waiting for him was going to be difficult, since I did not like the odd feeling that people were watching me behind my back. It made me comfortable, insecure, and most importantly…_annoyed_. Not wanting to sit there anymore, I quickly texted him back:

_All right but hurry. It feels like someone is-_

"Hey there..."

Speak of the _fucking_ devil…

My eyes widened for a moment as I stopped texting briefly, only to narrow with annoyance at the sound of the i_almost_/i unfamiliar voice that entered my head. _Why am I not surprised?_ I wondered as I finished the message with a "watching me…" before hitting send. After that, I took a quick glance at my shot of vodka. Was that the real reason why Raymond gave me a third glass, not just for "good luck?" Did he know this would happen, or was it just in his nature to do such a thing? Nevertheless, my annoyance overtook my chain of thought as I turned around, hazel eyes remaining disinterested toward the person that I assumed was trying to flirt with me.

I came to find a man, at least two or three years older than myself, with green eyes – I could not tell due to the lighting – and dark colored hair shaped into a Mohawk, a common hairstyle that some people found cool in the U.S. (I did not really care much for it, but if I had to be honest, it suited him.) His beard also matched his hair, and was well shaven. His outfit consisted of what I assumed was a red t-shirt - a picture that I could not really make out since I was only looking at his face - underneath an elbow length, striped "jacket," for lack of both a better term and the ability to care. A tattoo lined his right arm, disappearing up into his torso attire. It was after getting a good look at his face that I was finally able to figure out just who he was, _what _he was. Glancing down only slightly, the first two things that caught my eye was a watch on his left wrist and a bottle of alcohol in his right hand. On the outside, I remained calm, but inside I was screaming my fucking head off. Not out of some fan girl bullshit moment of the realization of who he was, but of terror. He was drunk, which meant I was placed in an _extremely_ bad situation...**alone**.

_Where the fuck are you, Nathan?_

Keeping a cool demeanor, I turned away from him, pocketing my phone with one hand while moving the other – although shaky – to take hold of the small shot of vodka.

"Can I help you with something?" I questioned, looking back at him from the corner of my eye.

He smiled; I chose against returning it, seeing as how he was just drunk out of his mind.

"I couldn't help but notice you sitting by yourself," he said, his Texan accented words slurring minimally as if he were starting to sober up but at the same time remaining drunk. "I figured…I should give the young lady some company."

This time, I chose to smile, but it was fake. Fortunately, I assumed he was too drunk to notice that.

"_Flattering_," I responded dully, "but there's no need for that. I have someone coming already."

"Is that right?" He responded, leaning into the counter a bit…which resulted in him moving a little toward me as well. I shrank back slightly as he continued, "And who would that person be?"

Biting my tongue for just a split second, I contemplated on whether or not I should burst his bubble so soon. Then again, he was drunk as it was, so why should it matter? He would move on, forget about me, and forget that this night ever happened. What was the worst that could happen?

"I'm waiting for my **_boyfriend_**," I told him, adding extreme emphasis on the term I officially gave to Nathan five years ago. I knew that was what should do; it would immediately drive him away for good. Unfortunately, the plan backfired; he stayed right where he was and just continued to smile.

"I figured a pretty girl like you would have a man by now," he said, taking a quick swig of his drink. As he did that, I turned my away briefly to widen my eyes with shock and surprise before looking back at him with my dull and disinterested gaze. Why the fuck was he not leaving? Once any guy heard the word "boyfriend" come out of any girl's mouth that meant she was taken, no longer available. I could not say it was taking him some time to put two and two together, seeing as how he deliberately pointed it out. Was he so drunk that he just did not care anymore? If that was the case, why? "Besides," he went on as he set his bottle down, breaking me from my brief chain of thought, "I'm sure he would be pretty happy to see a guy like me talking to his girl."

I put on another fake smile as I lifted the small shot of vodka to my lips.

"Yes…" I responded sarcastically, staring at the liquid. "I'm sure he would be…**_very_**…happy to see you talking to me," I glanced at him, "Logan Carter."

Logan Carter, the former NFL star as well as an egotistical spoiled rich kid, looked at me as if I had just hit the lotto, while I drank the last bit of vodka that Raymond had given me moments before the celebrity came up to me. Unfortunately, it was a mistake on my part. As I set down the shot glass, I started to feel lightheaded all of a sudden, the effects of the damned drink taking over – hence the reason I was an _extreme_ lightweight. Not extreme lightheadedness, but enough to notice it was there.

"Well, well," said Logan, "looks like someone here recognizes my face."

I closed my eyes and shrugged, trying to disperse the lightheadedness.

"It's hard not to when my **_boyfriend_** is your biggest fan," I explained, trying to emphasize the same fact that I was already taken, to no avail.

"Biggest fan, huh? Well, I'll be…" He said, turning around to lean his back against the counter. "Never thought I'd meet a girl whose man was my 'biggest' fan, let alone a fan at all."

"That's because girls like that are most likely **_faithful_** to their **_boyfriends_**." The hints just were not working on him, and with each passing minute, I was becoming more and more worried that something bad was going to happen very soon.

Logan looked at me.

"You'd be surprised what kind of girls I've met in the past," he explained. "Some of them are so damn happy to see me, they forget all about their man." The tone of his voice told me he was implying something; the bad feeling was starting to creep in and my heart race began picking up. "You know," he turned to face me, "the kind of girls who just want one night with me – just one – and see what it's like to be with a real celebrity." I looked at him, but it was big mistake. His green eyes stared into my hazel ones with a devilish intent. "_If _you know what I'm saying…"

Blinking, I looked away from him, already feeling uncomfortable as well as more lightheaded than before. That was it! That was the bad feeling that kept bugging me! Logan was trying to get me to sleep with him, to forget about Nathan for one night and go with him! When I realized this, I looked back at him, smiled, and shook my head.

"Sorry, Logan," I stated, "but as much as I would…_enjoy_ that, I'm not as stupid as other pathetic excuses for women." I stood up from my seat. "Unlike them, I stick with sleeping with one man."

He laughed at my words, but did not seem to take any offence to it. Either he was so drunk he did not understand, or he just was not offended at all. This only worried me even further.

"Come on, sweetheart." He pressed, moving closer to me. Oddly, I did not move from my spot, as my legs felt as if they were glued to the spot. "It's just a one night stand. Just you and me. No one will ever know."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Sorry, but I'm a one man gal. I don't do one night stands," I explained to him, "_especially_ if it involves cheating on my boyfriend." I gave up trying to emphasize the fact anymore; it was useless.

"You'd would much rather stick with sleeping with one man for...however long you guys have been together...than to sleep with me, someone who's famous?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I would much rather do that."

He paused for thought, setting down his bottle of alcohol that he stopped drinking some time ago. As he did this, I quickly looked out at the crowd, hoping to see Nathan's innocent mug come into view. Unfortunately, with the dancing people, thumping music, and multitudes of lights, I was unable to spot him. Did he get caught talking to someone else in the crowd? I prayed to whatever being was up there that that would not be the case.

"Alright," Logan spoke, grabbing my attention again. I looked back at him. "I've got another idea, but you've gotta hear me out for this one." I remained silent, raising an eyebrow both curiously and with annoyance. The next words he spoke nearly pushed it: "Kiss me…"

I would have taken a step back had it not been for the bar that was there, so I went with the next best thing; moved away from him.

"**_WHAT?!_**" I almost shouted, since I did not want to attract any attention to myself.

Realizing the fact that he upset me, Logan moved closer to me again.

"Now hold on there…" He said, placing an arm over my shoulder and pulling me toward him. I did not pull away, although I wanted to…badly. "You didn't let me finish."

"Do you **_really_** want me to let you finish that sentence?" I glared at him. Instead of replying, he just looked at me, staring into my eyes as if all he had to say was in a single look. Frustrated and wanting to get the fuck out of there, I nodded once to let him continue.

"It's just a kiss on the cheek. That's it," he explained himself. "You're about as stubborn as a mule when it comes to your man, but I figured I should get one thing out of a pretty young lady like yourself."

I continued to look at him, but was starting to become curious more than upset.

"On the cheek?" I questioned, earning a single nod from the NFL player. "Why?"

"Well, when you think about it, it isn't…_necessarily_ being unfaithful to your man." Logan started to explain. "It's just a kiss…on the cheek. Nothing more or less than that. Last time I checked, it ain't a crime."

I looked out at the crowd briefly before looking back at him and asking, "And what do I get out of this?"

The next words made me want to sigh with relief: "I'll leave you be for the rest of the night."

I raised an eyebrow at his words, words that I had been waiting to hear since he even approached me. It took him this long to realize that I wanted him to leave me alone? Nevertheless, as long as I knew he would not bother me for the rest of the night, it was fine by me. But to do that, I had to kiss him on the cheek. It was something I really did not want to do, seeing as how Nate was going to arrive any minute now, which could ultimately cause him to assume I was cheating on him with his favorite former NFL star. Still, I wanted him Logan to leave me be before Nate got here, so I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The only way I was ever going to get him away from me was if I gave him a simple kiss on the cheek, and that would be the end of it. It would not mean anything at all, and it would result in never seeing the celebrity again - other than on TV or something. Was it worth it, though? Was a simple kiss on the cheek really worth it? It was not supposed to mean anything, right? I had no intentions of cheating on or leaving Nate, so there was no issue in the situation, right? Everything would turn out okay, right?

…Right?

"Just…one kiss…?" I questioned hesitantly. He nodded. "And…you'll go away…right?"

"Absolutely."

Unable to find any other solution, I looked out at the crowd one last time before sighing. The only way to get rid of a problem is the "hard" way. The hard way being in reference to me.

"Fine…" I grumbled. "Just one, though. And that's it."

I noticed a smirk appear on his face, as if he was happy that I accepted his offer, which only made me narrow my eyes with annoyance. I was not going to appreciate this at all, seeing as how I already had someone to call mine. Unfortunately, the only way out of this was to give him what he wanted. The only fears I had with this was that 1) Nate would come at a bad time and assume the worst or 2) Logan would pull something funny. Two was a more likely possibility, which only made me worry of the dangers even more. Still, even if he did pull anything funny, the only way it could get worse was if Nate walked in and saw us. It was bad enough that Logan's arm was over my shoulder, but to take it even further than that would just be terrible. Nevertheless, he was not leaving without a simple kiss on the cheek. Nothing more or less than that. Even if I did have a bad feeling as to what this guy was going to do, there was no other option. I could not run away; we were residing in the same hotel, and who knows what he is like sober? It was something I would much rather avoid not just for myself, but the welfare of my relationship with Nate.

Turning my head away from him, I licked my lips lightly and prayed to whatever being existed in this damned world that it would end smoothly and without any trouble. When I looked back at him, he already had his head turned so that I would be able to kiss him on the cheek. His expression, although drunk, was filled with pride, as if he were that stereotypical, spoiled sixteen-year-old getting the car he always wanted. That expression of his only made me frown. However, it would most likely be the last time I ever saw it again other than on TV; I supposed it was the least I could do so that his time here would be worth it…even if he most likely would not remember anything the next morning.

After imagining myself bashing my head against a wall, I slowly began moving, being cautious as to what he was going to do next. The fear of Nate appearing from the crowd and catching me in this situation still plagued my mind, but I was too focused on watching Logan and keeping him from pulling any funny tricks to even notice. Since he was drunk, he was capable of doing the unexpected. When he would do it, though, was completely beyond my knowledge. That was what scared me the most. When I was close enough to his cheek to kiss him, I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, swallowing my dignity for just a moment, before placing my lips against his cheek. His beard brushed against my own cheek briefly, but it did not matter all that much. It only lasted about two or three seconds, since it was only supposed to be a small kiss on the cheek for only a brief amount of time. The reason I say it was i_supposed_/i to be a small kiss on the cheek was in reference to what the little bastard did immediately afterwards.

Just as I began pulling away from him, the ex-NFL star turned his head just enough to catch my lips with his own. The action was fast, so fast I did not even realize what happened until he started kissing me. Hazel eyes shot open with surprise as he moved his other arm to the other side of my body, pinning me between himself and the counter of the bar. Heart pounding, I quickly tried to push him off me, but it was completely futile seeing as how he was stronger than me added with the fact that I was now in both a frantic and panicked state of mind. _I knew it!_ I told myself as I kept trying to pry him off me. _I just knew this would fucking happen! Why the fuck did I fall for this shit?_ Questions like that (and multiple swear words) filled my head as Logan's body moved closer with mine, enclosing me in a much tighter space. That only made the situation even worse on my part. I may have been bad with crowds, but when it came to being way too close to people I did not know - men especially - was much worse. I could feel my chest tightening up as his hands fell upon my hips, as if I could tell when I was about to have a panic attack right on the spot. The anxiety that was building in me made me feel like I just wanted to pass out. Not only was becoming more and more stressed out over the extremely close, uncomfortable contact with Logan, but over one simple fact that ran through my head:

I was _cheating_ on my boyfriend…with his _idol_.

Realizing this, I felt an adrenaline rush through me as I found the strength to push him off and away from me, breaking the kiss at the same time. Inhaling deeply, my hand fell upon my chest as I began panting. Eyes widened, I kept my gaze on the ground, not even daring to look in the direction of the drunken celebrity. Not only did I feel the loss of my dignity, but the thought of losing Nathan struck me harder than a rock thrown at the back of my head. My mind was racing a mile a minute, wondering if Nathan had actually seen the short ordeal and walked off without giving me the chance to explain. Losing him was something I did not want to happen; not after five long years.

"Wow…" I heard Logan mutter. I remained silent as I slowly looked up at him, my bangs shielding my eyes a bit. "I never thought I could actually pull that off! I guess I'm just that good."

_Snap._ That was the sound I heard in my head the moment he said that. And it was what happened just seconds afterwards.

Angered and outraged by his attitude and words, I could not stop myself from connecting my fist straight into his jaw, knocking him back into the second bar across from me. The sound of breaking glass was heard as bottles of alcohol fell to the ground upon his impact to the bar counter, but I no longer cared. I was not going to stand there and allow him to talk all high and mightily as if he owned the place, as if riding on his high horse was acceptable. If he thought pulling such a trick on me was going to get him places, he thought wrong. His streak of boorishness and spoiled rich kid lifestyle was going to end. He may have gotten whatever he wanted without consequences at times, like women, money, and all that other bullshit; but there was no way he was going to try and get me i_knowing_/ithat I was already taken by someone twice the man he ever would be.

"YOU SELFISH, EGOTISTICAL, SELF-CENTERED BASTARD!" I shouted, causing the group that was nearby to stare at me with wonder as to what happened. "How _dare_ you try to even _think_ about doing a fucking thing like that and expect to get away with it! I should beat your ass for doing and saying a thing like that!" He looked at me, surprised that I had actually gotten a hit on his face. "You are nothing but a spoiled brat living your life without consequences! Just because you had some fucking career as a goddamn NFL star doesn't mean you can get whatever the fuck you want just by taking it! _Especially _the things that don't belong to you!"

"Abigail!" I heard Raymond call my name, but I ignored him completely.

"If you _ever_ try to do something like that again, to anyone," I hissed, "I swear I will hunt you down and ruin you like you ruined your career!"

With that, I glared at him for another second, wiping my lips in a metaphorical sense of wiping away the kiss, before turning to look at Raymond, who appeared pale at the event that had just taken place before his own eyes. When he noticed me looking at him, he snapped back to reality.

"Abigail, what the fuck just happened? Are you okay?" I noticed a bottle of alcohol sitting to his right and, without thinking clearly, grabbed it and began chugging it as if I were dying of thirst. Raymond silently watched me, as did the eyes of nearly everyone else, until I set the bottle – which was now half full – down on the counter. Feeling calmer (and even more light headed), I looked at Raymond, who still appeared worried.

"No…" I spoke, my voice suddenly cracking out of pain and stress. "I just lost my dignity, my pride…and possibly Nathan…"

Those words spoken, I walked into the crowd, deciding to look Nathan alone.


	3. Bittersweet

"NATHAN!" I called out into the crowd, looking around and standing on my toes in order to search for my boyfriend.

The event that had taken place between Logan and I had me shaken with not just anger and but with anxiety. I was upset over what had happened, hoping Nathan did not see what had happened and get the wrong idea. Still, I was going to try and look for him before heading out to the hotel room. As much as I wanted to go there and stay there for the rest of my life, I wanted to find Nathan and make sure he did not find out about what happened…yet. Fortunately, no one who may have been nearby or heard the noise gave me any odd looks of any sort, as they were too much too busy dancing to the music in order to hear or even care.

"NATHAN! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"ABBEY!"

I turned around swiftly at the sound of that familiar voice. When I tried to look around, he called my name again, which caused me to turn around once again. He was nearby; I could feel it. Relieved, I began moving in the direction of his voice. Looking over the heads of the crowd, I tried to spot his face; one that I knew could stand out from the crowd.

"ABBEY!" He called out again, only this time his voice a bit louder. He was much closer now. Judging by how much louder his voice was than before, I knew I had to be close. by

"NATHAN, WHERE ARE YOU?" I called out again. The second I asked that, I noticed a pair of arms flailing above the crowd not too far from my location. For the first time in a long while, I felt myself smile with relief as I quickly began moving toward him. As I pushed myself through the crowd, hazel eyes finally met blue as Nathan finally came into view once again. "There you are!" I sighed, moving over to embrace him. "I couldn't sit there waiting-"

Before I had a chance to get a hold of him, someone took hold of the back of my tank top and pulled me away from him. Surprised, I nearly lost my footing briefly, but was able to regain it quickly. Not in the mood for people trying to mess with mess with me, I looked up toward Nathan, only to find the one person I _really_ did not want to see right now.

"Stay away from Nathan, you bitch!" Hissed a young, bleach blonde haired woman named Rita Martinez, a glare eminent in her green eyes.

"What the fuck is your problem?" I questioned, walking up to her and pushing her away from Nathan. "Last time I checked, your Nathan's _ex_, not his current."

Yes, Rita Martinez was the woman that Nathan Rodgers previously dated before meeting me. The tough relationship I was referring to with Rose and her friends was between her and Nathan. Rita was the kind of woman who would never let her man speak to, look at, or even stand near the vicinity of another woman. Should that happen, according Nathan, she would beat him. _Beat him_! Just for being in the near vicinity of another woman. Nathan explained to me that it was because of what had happened during her childhood. Apparently, she was unloved by her parents and wanted someone who would love her, but that gave no reason for her to go beating up her boyfriends just because he looked at another girl. To me, she was just a player looking for all the attention and love, and when she was bored she would move on to other guys. That was what she did to Nathan; she cheated on him on several different occasions and he forgave her for it, all because of her childhood. Frankly, I did not believe that story, which was what I said to her face. I explained to Nathan that she was just using him for whatever reason she had and that he should just leave, her but he could not do it because he feared of hurting her. It was when she found out that Nathan was talking to me behind her back that things went to Hell for the relationship. In fact, it was what ended it altogether.

"I thought I told you not to speak to her or any other woman!" She snapped after catching us near the beach, just talking about their relationship.

Nathan, before that day, told me not to do anything or say anything at all, but I went against his wishes and stood up to her.

"Listen, Rita," I spoke calmly even if I wanted to punch her hard for the way she treated him. "From what I hear from Nathan, I don't think you should be treating him the way you have been for…I don't know, two years?"

She looked at me with such disgust it almost put me over the edge.

"Who the fuck are you, Mason? His mother?" She hissed. "For starters, I told him not to speak to other women while I'm away because I know he'll cheat on me! Like he's doing right now!"

Raising an eyebrow, I looked at Nathan, who was looking between me and Rita with fear, before looking back at her.

"Hold on there, honey. Nathan and I are _not_ in a relationship whatsoever." I spoke in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "I'm his _friend_, someone he can talk to while you're off sleeping with other men behind his back. Or are they your _friends_?"

Her jaw dropped as her death glare reached the innocent looking Nathan.

"You told her about my guy friends?!" She nearly screeched, approaching Nathan quickly. Before she could do anything, I stepped between the two of them. "Move it, you damn whore!"

I laughed at her words, finding it hysterical that she would act like the child she was and try to call me a low class name as that.

"You've gotta be kidding me…" I muttered. "You have the balls to call _me_ a whore, while you're off giving oral to your "guy friends." By the way, I believe the term for that is 'friends with benefits.'" Her glare hardened, but she said nothing. "Listen, little miss prostitute," I knew that name was a bit childish on my part, but it was the first thing that popped into my head when I looked at her, "just because Nathan, according to your pathetic state of mind, can't give you enough pleasure in bed doesn't give you the right to go finding someone else to do it for you!"

"You don't know me at all!" Rita snapped at me, pointing a finger in my face. "You don't know what kind of life I've been through!"

Immediately, I slapped her hand away.

"As a matter of fact, I do." I said. "Nathan explained that story to me, too." She looked at Nathan immediately. "Hey, eyes on me, not him. This discussion is between you and me." She looked at me again. "Thank you. Anyway, Nathan told me that story about how 'your parents didn't love you enough' or 'you never got anything you wanted.' Well, it sounds to me like they _did_ give you all the love in the world. Also, they gave you everything, even going as far as to waste all of their money on you just to keep you happy. How do I know this? Nathan was happy to explain that he spoke with your parents and they said the same exact thing I'm telling you."

"You little fucking-"

"_I'm not done_." I growled, causing her to step back. "According to your parents, they started to lose a lot of money around the time you were four or five years old, forcing them to stop buying you gifts. From what I learned in school about children, some of them start to obtain the ability to remember things at around age two or three, maybe even four. Which comes to my next point: when you started to retain memories, you noticed that your parents "did not pay much attention to you," giving you the impression that they did not love you enough to spend time with you or buy you gifts. Thus, you started searching for friends, but from my standpoint, seeing as how we went to school together, over time you lost those friends because of the fact that they, too, had best friends just like you.

"Eventually, your hormones started to kick in, which resulted in you replacing friends with guys, or 'friends with benefits' in this case. You felt that that was the only way you could feel the love you supposedly never had as a child, when in reality you could have been the considered the most spoiled child on the whole damn island. This resulted in your inability to keep a boyfriend for longer than…I'd say a week." I looked at Nathan before looking at her. "I'm still shocked that Nathan was able to deal with you for this long without breaking the others. But that's only because he does everything in his power to make you the happiest and luckiest girl ever to walk this island. Unfortunately, you overlook all of that and, based on what other guys did to you, you became set on this one idea that all guys were going to cheat on you if they talked to other girls. The whole beating thing that you picked up is beyond me; probably to assert your dominance in the relationship, which failed to work up until you started dating poor Nathan." She gawked at me as if I had grown two heads, while I simply crossed my arms over my chest. "And you say I don't know you. I'm majoring in psychology and did a lot of study on the human mind, mostly childhood, adolescence, and young adults."

_**WHACK!**_

It took me a moment to realize that she had punched me in the face, and I had clarified it as I hit the ground and felt the throbbing pain in my cheek. Fortunately, she did not break anything, but her hit was hard enough to leave me dazed for a moment.

"Holy shit!" Exclaimed Nathan, shocked by what just happened. "Rita, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

"That little bitch doesn't know anything about me!" She shouted at him, while I slowly looked forward to notice a stranded paddle lying on the beach. _They say you can't fight fire with fire, but who says you can't aim that fire at the enemy?_ "She thinks she can talk all that psychology bullshit as if she owns the place, then she can think again."

"But that doesn't give you the right to punch her in the face like that! She was stating the truth!" Nathan told her as my hand reached out to the paddle, the assorted bracelets made from seashells moving up my arm.

"_Excuse me_?! You're agreeing with her?!"

_Just a bit more…_

"You know what, yes! Yes, I am agreeing with her! I talked to your parents and they said they do love you as much as they did back then!"

_Almost got it…_

"How fucking dare you side with that damn bitch! I'm your girlfriend! You're supposed to side with me!"

"Sorry, I don't side with _ex_-girlfriends."

_Got it!_

"What the fuck did you just say?!"

Before Nathan had the chance to answer her, I got to my feet, holding the paddle with both hands, and swung as hard as I could in Rita's direction. The flat side of it slapped her right in the back of the head, but it was not hard enough to break her skull. I wanted to knock her out, not kill her (even if I wanted to that anyway). The paddle actually snapped a bit upon impact, but did not break as the blonde woman collapsed right in front of Nathan, who accidentally moved out of the way and watched in horror as her face collided with the sand. Pleased with the outcome, I tossed the splintered paddle to the side and exhaled with relief, while Nathan looked at me with surprised. Before he said anything, I raised a finger, telling him to hush for the time being.

"He said he doesn't side with ex-girlfriends." I said to Rita's possibly unconscious body. "That means you two are finally over."

Ah, memories. Some of those memories were some of the best ones ever.

Rita's glare hardened even more in my direction as she said, "I may not be his girlfriend anymore, but I least I wouldn't backstab him."

I looked at her as if she had lost her damn mind.

"Wouldn't backstab him?!" I shouted. "You backstabbed him with multiple guys at once! For _two fucking years_!"

"First of all, I never cheat on him!" It was clear she was in denial. "And second of all, I didn't cheat on him with his idol!"

I felt my face grow pale at her words, almost like a deer in headlights. She saw me! She saw me kissing Logan and came to tell Nathan, lie to him, that I was cheating on him! Her motive had to be one thing; get him back. It was how she was for the past five years. Ever since their breakup, she turned into a stalker, always finding out where he was and what he was doing. She even went as far as to claim I was being unfaithful. This time, though, she did catch me, but she did not understand. Logan was the one who kissed _me_, not the other way around. Had she known that, however, she probably would have done the same thing, anyway. After all, she has been trying to get him back for five years.

"See! It's written all over her face!" Rita exclaimed.

Nathan looked at Rita, who was now holding onto his arm, before looking at me.

"Abbey…" He said. "What does she mean? What does she mean by that?"

"Look here, motherfucker!" I snapped at Rita, the alcohol in my system starting to kick in as well as the lightheadedness and making me forget about Nathan for just a moment. "You didn't see what exactly happened, you dumb bitch!"

"Really? I didn't see you kissing Logan Carter, as if you didn't have a boyfriend at all?"

I hesitated briefly, but I fought back.

"I didn't kiss him; _he_ kissed _me_ because he was so fucking drunk to put two and two together and realize I was already taken!" A short wave of dizziness fell over me. "Right now, I drank more alcohol than I should have just to get the fucking taste of him out of my mouth, and I'm in a really…_extremely_…emotional mood right now. So don't fucking push me!"

"Oh, cry me a river!" She taunted me. "You cheated on Nathan, which goes to show that you're nothing but a useless slut!"

_Snap._ There was that snap again. And there went the action that went with it again.

Fist met face once again as I gathered up all the strength I had and swung in her direction. It caused her to fall back into a nearby set of chairs, causing them to fall apart and shatter. Some of the even splintered her body, but I was too outraged to even care anymore. I was not going to let her stand there and accuse me of something I had no means to do. I _never _wanted to cheat on Nathan with his idol. I _never _wanted him to find out the way he did; through his ex. In fact, I _never_ wanted her to find out at all, knowing that this would be the end result. This night was just going in the wrong direction altogether and it made me want to break down and cry right there.

Unable to find the right words, I ran my hands through my hair roughly before looking at Nathan, who was shocked by what had happened and at the same time confused. Not wanting to stay here anymore, I took hold of his wrist and began walking off, ignoring the gazes of the people around me. It was when I got several feet away from the scene that I felt tears welling up in my eyes. I felt bruised, broken down by the thoughts of having made the mistake of cheating on my own boyfriend with his idol. I felt as if my dignity had been taken from me and stabbed multiple times right before my own eyes. I was unable to even look at Nathan as we continued our way to the hotel. What would he think of the whole situation? Would he see me the way I saw Rita; as some girl only looking for guys to please me the way he could not? I did not want him thinking that way, but who knew what kind of lies Rita filled into his head while I was looking for him in the crowds. Most likely overdramatized and filled with useless nonsense like "She came onto him" or "She was kissing him so much, I thought she was going to fuck him right there!"

She had a terrible, explicit fantasy…

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt Nathan release my grip on me before taking my own hand. Before I had the chance to ask him what was wrong, he and I were sprinting to the hotel as fast as we could. Confused, I looked at him and noticed something that I had seen multiple times before; fear, terror, horror. This confused and frightened me at the same time. Did he notice Rita coming after us out of revenge to what I had done? Last time I saw her, she almost appeared unconscious, but I did not stay long enough to see for myself. By the time I had noticed his expression of fear, we were already fast-walking into the hotel lobby, making our way to the elevator. Stopping, he pressed the button that was marked with our floor as fast as he could, beads of sweat running down his fast as he looked up at the numbers indicating which floor the elevator was on.

"Nathan," I tried to speak to him, only to elicit no response. His mind was set on terror and was only focused on one thing…whatever that one thing was. "Nathan!" I said, my voice a little louder than before. By that time, he stopped pressing the button, looking back to the entrance into the lobby, as if he were looking for something.

"Oh, fuck…" He murmured as he looked back at the numbers, which was much closer to our floor.

"Nathan, what's wrong?" I questioned, touching his shoulder.

Next thing I knew, the doors flew open, and Nathan quickly entered with me at his side. The doors behind us closed, and the tension that had risen in Nathan and subsided a bit. It was still there, but just not as prominent as before. Pressing the number of our floor, the machine began rising not too fast, but fast enough to reach our floor in about fifteen seconds. The second the doors flew open to reveal our floor, Nathan had taken hold of my hand again and began walking down the hallway leading to our room, looking about as if he were looking for something. I was still unable to get a response from him, worry starting to fill my body of his strange actions and inability to speak to me. When we reached our room, which was located near the end of the hallway, he slid the key card and threw open the door, entering the room and closing the door behind him with a bit of a slam. Releasing my hand, he looked around frantically before spotting a chair at the table before running over to it.

"Nathan, what the fuck is wrong with you?!" I exclaimed as he picked up the chair and moved back to the door.

"They're here…" He murmured, shoving the chair against the handle to prevent anyone from coming inside.

"What?!" I questioned, thoroughly confused by what he was talking about. "Who's here?"

He looked at me as if he had seen Freddie Kruger in his dreams.

"Zombies…" He said in a low tone, running over to pull the dresser that was near the door up against it. Upon hearing that word, I rolled my eyes, walked up to him, and pulled him away from the dresser. "What are you doing?! They'll get in if that isn't in the way!"

"I'm keeping you from making a fool out of yourself!" I told him, pushing the dresser back into its spot before turning back to him. "How many times have I told you that they aren't real?"

"Y-you don't understand, Abbey! I saw one with my own two eyes!" He said, walking up to me and placing his hands on my shoulder. "When we started leaving, I looked back to see if Rita was all right. Natural instinct, you know? Anyway, when I looked back, I noticed that Rose had stopped by to help her up. But…" His head lowered. "But it wasn't her. It wasn't Rose! When Rita tried to get up, Rose jumped on her and started eating her neck! Rita wasn't able to scream because Rose had her hand on Rita's face! I…I had to get you out of there before it noticed us!"

I listened to him speak about what he supposedly saw as we made our way back to the hotel, but I found it hard to believe those words. Either I was rubbing off on him when it came to Rita and what I thought about doing to her, or he had a little too much to drink tonight and just was out of it. Sometimes, I found myself acting a lot like my parents when it came to situations like this; not believing a word Nathan said about zombies taking over the world. However, unlike them, I was able to tolerate his outbursts and bring him back to the planet Earth once again. I was able to ignore all of those moments when he thought he saw a zombie wandering the island on most occasions, but when I was becoming emotional over something serious, it started to become annoying and frustrating. Granted, I was never emotional to begin with, as I worried more about others than I did myself, but the reason I was like this involved Nathan. The least he could do was worry a little less about zombies for the time being.

"Nathan, I don't know why you're acting this way, but you're being a little ridiculous." I told him. Barely listening, the blonde moved over to the other side of the room, pulling out something from his dresser. After a moment, I realized that it was nothing but a dark grey sweat jacket, a jacket he used in order to "prevent getting infected from zombie bites." When he said that, I figured that it was not be possible, seeing as how it was just a sweat jacket, but that was when he first showed it to me. "Don't bring that out! There is nothing out there!"

"You have to believe me, Abbey. I saw Rita getting attacked by an infected Rose!" He exclaimed as he slipped on the jacket. "Who knows who else she could have infected along the way?"

"No one else, because she wasn't infected at all!" I snapped. "Will you please just knock this off?" He moved over to the closet, pulling a metal bat that he must have stored in there. Shocked, I watched him move toward the door. "How the fuck did you get that in here without getting caught?!"

"I snuck it in through the back way into the hotel, and I'm glad I did!" He said, pressing his back to the door. "Those things might get in here, into the hotel, and come after us all! I needed to know we were going to be safe from something like this happening, so there are other weapons in there, too."

"Other…what?!" I nearly shrieked. "You have the audacity to bring _weapons_ to a _hotel_?! You're out of your mind!"

"No, I'm being safe!"

"Enough of this bullshit!" I snapped at him, moving over to the bed. "I'm sick and tired of you think that something insane like a zombie apocalypse is going to strike the island! It's not! It never will! You're being ridiculous!" I felt myself tear up as I sat on the bed. "So please…just…stop…"

I felt Nathan's eyes on me for a long moment, staring at me with the same surprise and shock he had moments before we left that party. Then, I heard him slide against the door and onto the ground, holding onto the bat in hand tightly but holding no interest in the supposed creatures that lurked outside our door. The room fell silent between us, and the guilt that once filled my body from what had happened before added with what happened now made me feel extremely emotional and upset. I did not mean to scold him the way I did; it was just that I still felt the pain of betraying him even as we returned to the room in a hurry. I felt sorry, apologetic, for scolding him despite everything that happened. It should have been me that had gotten the scolding for the mistake I made. Granted, it may not have been my fault entirely, but it was partially my fault for falling for such a stupid trick and getting caught without having the chance to explain myself. What would Nathan think about it, seeing as how Rita told him what she saw? Was he going to be upset just like I had anticipated, wanted, hoped for? My answer soon came to fruition as said blue eyed man spoke up after a painfully long five minutes of tense silence.

"So…was what Rita said true…" He started, "when she said you were cheating on me with my idol?" I could tell he knew what she meant by those words, but was having a bit of trouble comprehending whether or not it was real.

I looked over at him, spotting a saddened and broken expression on his face. It was one that made me want to cry out of guilt, yet I refused to do so. Sighing, I ran a hand through my shoulder length, choppy styled hair, pushing away the bangs that fell into my face.

"Well, um," I started, "as much as I don't...want to admit it...she _was_…talking about…your idol."

Pursing his lips, he looked at his bat briefly.

"You mean Logan Carter?" He questioned, glancing back at me with blank blue eyes. I had always hated looks like that, so void of life and happiness, especially when it came from him. Remembering his question, I looked away and nodded once. "Hmm…I see."

Sighing again, I got to my feet.

"Listen, Nathan…I didn't want you to find out until we came back here. I wanted to tell you when we were away from the crowds and away from him…but Rita beat me to the punch." I paused briefly. "I wanted to tell you and show you how sorry I am for what happened. Logan was the one who came onto me, and I told him multiple times that I had a boyfriend; I had you. He was…he was just too drunk to listen to a word I said. That or he just didn't care." I placed my hands on my hips. "He just kept talking to me, and I talked to him even though I kept reminding him of you. After a while, he promised to leave me be if I gave him a kiss on the cheek."

He remained silent for a moment before saying, "And you did?"

"Hesitantly, since I did not want you walking in at the wrong time and spotting me. In fact, I did not want to do it at all, but I figured he would go away if I did…so yes. I did."

"…Then what happened?"

I nibbled on the inside of my cheek for a moment before continuing to say, "When I pulled away, he moved his head and kissed me on the lips. Out of nowhere and without giving me a chance to think. I didn't kiss back and was able to push him off me…"

Before I could finish, I stopped myself short, not wanting to continue on with what happened next. Unfortunately, Nathan was able to notice this.

"What happened next?" He pressed.

My eyes shifted briefly, not wanting to explain what had happened between Logan and I, fearing his reaction only slightly. Unable to hold it in anymore, I sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"I, uh…" I cleared my throat. "I punched him in the face…"

It was then that his expression changed from the blank and emotionless face into one of horror.

"_You punched my idol in the face?!_" He exclaimed, getting to his feet all of a sudden. "Why would you do that?!"

My eyes widened with surprise at his question, shocked he would ask a question that already had an answer. To explain the reason why Nathan was reacting that way he was is because, as one could tell, Logan was his idol. More specifically, the Logan Carter _before_ the accident was the man Nathan idolized, not the Logan Carter of today (He still idolized him after the accident). He knew what had happened in the accident that cost Logan his professional career which later sent him into the semi-pros in Canada, but he was still his No. 1 fan despite it all. He saw something that no one else could see, something that I was unable to spot or identify on the former NFL star no matter how much I tried. Whatever the case might have been, he was still his fan and always would be even through the tough times in his life. Unfortunately, I was not sure if the misfortunate life of Logan Carter was starting to have an impact on our relationship.

"Did you not hear what I said? He kissed me even though he knew I had a boyfriend! Namely you!" I told him.

"I know, I know, but…but you punched him! You didn't have to go that far!"

"Yes, I did! He was acting like a conceited asshole, talking as if he was boasting about his success on kissing me! He needed to know that I wasn't gonna let him get away with that!"

"You should have just walked away, not hit him!"

"So you're not upset over the fact that he _kissed_ me, but over the fact that I nearly knocked him out cold! You're fucking awful!"

He stared at me briefly as I moved over to the other side of the bed. I felt hurt by his attitude. He was actually defending the guy who made me feel terrible, made me feel as if I had committed a crime against my relationship. It really hurt to hear him say things like that, made me not want to speak to him for the rest of the night. Falling onto the bed, I kept my back toward him, gripping the pillow that lied under my head. Once again, the room had turned silent between us. I could sense that Nathan knew his mistake, but was unsure as to how he should fix it other than by apologizing. I could tell he wanted to, but sorry was not going to take back his words from before. After another few moments, I heard him sigh before making his way over to my side of the bed, the metal bat he held dragging across the floor. Then, I spotted him from my peripheral vision as he sat down on my bed. His gaze was locked onto mine, which was staring at a nearby wall with a small glare. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before reaching over to take hold of my hand, gripping gently.

"Abbey, I'm sorry…" He said with all the truth in the world. "I know sorry isn't going to fix or change anything, but believe me I am worried about what had happened. I just…became a little sidetracked with my idol. But now, I realize my one true idol is in pain." He smiled warmly. "That one true idol is you, Abbey." I glanced at him as he continued, "I'm sorry for getting all worked up over the whole zombie thing, too. I know it's something you don't like hearing about, but it's something that really worries me. It worries me because I'm afraid something will happen to you if it does happen. I'm afraid I won't be able to protect you or anyone else." My gaze slowly fell upon him. "I just want to feel useful and helpful…"

After a second, I slowly moved up into a sitting position.

"You speak of yourself as if you're some object, Nate." I told him. "You shouldn't perceive yourself like that. You are helpful in your own way." He looked at me. "You're brilliant, smart, caring, everything that a helpful person has. Besides," I smiled, "even if something like that happens – I'm not saying I agree with you – I know you'll be able to keep me safe."

He stared into my eyes, the eyes that I had grown to love over time, before a small smile played on his lips.

"You think so?" He questioned, sounding like a kid who was told he could be anything he wanted.

My smile growing, I leaned in to place a small kiss on his lips, one that was much more comfortable to me and one that I was used to, before pulling away.

"I know so," I said to him. His face lit up a bit, feeling happy over the words I had spoken to him. It was difficult to stay mad at him for long; it was as if he had a permanent puppy dog gaze and an innocent child personality.

"You know, I'm not mad at you for what happened between you and Logan." He said, a gentle smile on his lips. "It was a party. He was drunk; it was an unavoidable situation…I guess."

Shrugging, I placed a kiss on his cheek.

"I suppose so," I muttered. "But whatever the case may be, I never have to see him again. Also, you and I are gonna have a great day tomorrow." My smile grew a little. "Didn't you say my surprise was going to be presented tomorrow?"

He remained silent for a moment before looking at me and nodding.

"Yeah, it is." He said, his voice a bit lower than before. Before I had an opportunity to question him, he put on the same smile he had before. "Get some rest, sweetheart. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

Not wanting to question him further, I nodded once before placing my head against the pillow. Tonight was way too long for me, and a bit rough around the edges. Still, there was always tomorrow, and I was hoping tomorrow would be a lot better than today. Smiling briefly, I shut my eyes, falling into a deep sleep almost immediately.

_**General POV**_

The moment Abigail fell fast asleep, Nathan sighed to himself, running a hand through his shaggy hair and looking up at the ceiling. His mind was still focused on the event that had taken place just before he and his lover ran into the hotel. Whether Abbey believed him or not, what he saw was no hoax or some sick joke. What he saw was an infected zombie – an infected friend he once called Rose – attacking and possibly "killing" his ex-girlfriend Rita. He was not sure about what would happen to the other partygoers that were there, but as long as Abbey was safe and away from harm, he did not really care anymore. He wanted to know that she was safe from those things, and prayed that they would not reach their floor by tonight. He really did not want them breaking in when she was sleeping, only for him to get hurt, or worse, infected. The thought of becoming one of them made him shudder visibly, causing him to get to his feet once again – his metal bat in hand – and make his way over to the blocked door. He knew that such a thing was possible, as those things would always be hungry for flesh, but to think about becoming one of them when Abbey was nearby.

Blue eyes narrowed as Nathan stopped in front of the door. _No_, he thought as he turned around before leaning against it. _Nothing like that is going to happen._ He would have to be extremely careful should those things reach his floor, reach their room, and try to break down the door. He did not want to get bitten or scratched by one of them for fear of getting infected and attacking Abbey when she was fast asleep. He wanted her to live on should something like that happen. He wanted to know that she would be safe from harm with the other weapons he stored in the closet for the both of them until help arrived…_if_ help arrived, that is. Who knew how fast the infection would spread throughout the island, how long it would be until everyone was undead or just dead? How long would it take for the help that he would want to come for Abbey to arrive here? How long would it be until they died off, leaving her alone on the island with nothing but the clothes on her back and weapons in hand?

Shaking the unwanted thoughts to the side, he slid down the door until his bottom hit the ground. After a long moment, he looked over at Abbey's sleeping form on the bed. _Don't worry, Abbey._ He said as if he were talking to her. _I'll do my best to protect you. Even if it means giving up my life._


	4. Start of the Downfall

_**The Next Morning…**_

I awoke to the buzzing sound of my alarm clock going off at precisely nine o'clock in the morning for the fifth time this week, letting me know that it was time to get up to start the day once again. Hazel eyes slowly opened to find myself staring at the very same wall in which I stared at before falling asleep. When I remembered everything that had happened, I felt myself frown. I did not want to think about last night's events, not wanting to ponder anything that would bother me all day for an undetermined amount of time, and only worry about was going to happen today. Apparently, Nathan had some sort of "surprise" for me, something he had wanted to do for some time but never actually got around to finding a perfect day. Unsure of what it was as well as a little excited, I decided to go along with it and see what it was that he was up to. Last night's events were not going to ruin today if I thought about it, especially when I was actually looking forward to something interesting and worth knowing.

Realizing that I never covered myself with the blankets nor did I change out of the clothes from last night, I decided to get out of bed without the usual morning routine, which involved removing the covers and fixing my disheveled pajamas. Stretching a bit and hearing a few bones crack at the same time, I moved over to the nearby dresser that I had claimed as my own, pulling out a casual white tank top with a scoop neck and back line, and a sleeveless styling to help me cope with island's overbearing yet oddly comfortable humidity. The mesh overlay gave off a playful circular pattern, something that piqued my interest when I first got it, and had a straight hem.

Smiling, I draped the top on my arm, closed the top dresser, and opened the one below it to pull out a pair of blue jean shorts with a hip-hugging low rise and rolled up hem. It had the classic five-pocket construction to it and tonal topstitching to piece it all together. To top it off, it was equipped with a wide belt loop waistband, zipper fly, and double-button closure. Attire that would withstand the heat, I told myself. Besides, white goes with…pretty much anything from my understanding, and the color itself kept me from overheating too much while outside. Placing the shorts atop my tank top, I picked out a pair of matching undergarments – nothing special, really; just a simply a light pink shade so that it would not be seen as clear as day while walking around outside – and some thin woven socks to avoid sweating in my sneakers. Speaking of which, I looked across the room to find that said sneakers – a pair of All Star converse in the shade of blue on the outside, red on the inside and along the sides as very thin lines – sat right next to the bathroom where I had left them before changing for the party.

Pushing the thoughts of out of mind once again, I got to my feet, picking up a metal chain bracelet with a ruby red key chain attached to it; it was in the shape of rose, something that did not grow very much out on the island. It was given to me by Nathan, who believed red showed courage in a person (something I seemed to give off a lot). Speaking of the man who gave me such a wonderful gift, I looked back at the bed; only find that his side of it was untouched, as if he never even went to bed last night. Frowning, I looked towards the door, causing my frown to disappear and my expression turned into one of confusion. I had found my lover sleeping against the doorway of our room; the chair he had placed there still against the door, and his metal bat lying next to him. His grey jacket remained on his body, and his head hung low, giving me the sign that he was still sleeping. I sighed and shook my head. _Must have been thinking about those zombies again,_ I told myself as I entered the bathroom. I wanted to take a quick shower before waking up Nate, seeing as how he seemed extremely tired from last night's ordeal. Besides, I hated bothering him when he slept; he was the most peaceful person when he was fast asleep.

Smiling, I stripped myself of the clothes from last night and tossed them into the hamper nearby; reminding me that it was Nathan's turn to wash clothes this week. Turning on the shower and stepping in, I allowed the water to fall against my body for just a moment, feeling as if all of the moments that had taken place were washed away with the pouring water from the shower head. It was when I started to wash my body that my mind began to wander outside of its normal comfort zone. Last night was one of the craziest (and worst) nights I had ever witnessed in my entire life. There was nothing that could compare to what had happened, especially between Logan and I. _And to think_, I told myself, _that Nathan was alright with it._ I was not sure if I should be upset with him that he was not upset with his idol for kissing me or cool with it because he had forgiven for falling for a ridiculous trick. Hell, I was surprised he even forgave me at all after what he went through with Rita!

The thought of 'prostitute' filled my mind with anger for just a moment before disappearing immediately. Was what Nathan said true; did some infected Rose, who was once our friend when we arrived at the Royal Palms Resort, attack and possibly kill Rita? If it was, what was I supposed to make of it? Should I be happy that the crazy stalker would no longer bother our relationship again, or frightened over the fact that some creature had killed her? A frown spread out on my face as I rinsed the soap off me and began washing my hair. _Now I'm starting to sound like Nathan_, I laughed to myself as I washed out the shampoo and moving on to the conditioner. The whole "zombie apocalypse" idea was just a figment of his imagination. Too many scary movies about zombies was what caused it all, and as the saying goes: "Curiosity killed the cat." The cat, in reality terms, was referring to Nathan, who was curious as to whether or not such a thing as zombies could be possible. After too much researching, he immediately became paranoid, thus starting the endless epidemics of "There's a zombie on the island!"

Sighing, I rinsed out the conditioner before turning off the water. Now I started to feel like all those people who poked fun at him over in New York City, where he lived and worked. He was always laughed at or shut down by everyone about his false accusations. I did that, too, but I was able to tolerate his outbursts and panic attacks unlike everyone else, who would bother him and mock him for believing such a thing. I may not have believed that zombies could exist, but I was not going to stoop so low as to mock someone for believing something outlandish. I suppose that was why he started to fall for me; because I was not like others who would constantly laugh at him and call him an idiot whenever the opportunity arose. Even Rita laughed at him when he had one of his zombie panic attacks! I did not want to be like them, always putting someone down for believing something that others did not. I allowed him to believe what he wanted, but that did I mean I wanted to follow alongside him. I, for one, did not agree with anything relating to the undead. Once someone was dead, that person was dead. End of discussion. Still, there were days when I wondered if Nathan's findings could be true.

Exiting the shower, I grabbed the towel that I had claimed for myself and began drying off my body. I was returning to reality once again and remembering the day Nathan and I were going to have. It was something I was looking forward to since he brought it up a few weeks ago. Smiling, I began drying off my hair, wondering what he was that he was planning for us today. Just as I was thinking that, though, I suddenly heard the sounds of faint screaming coming from the other side of the wall. I froze in my spot as I stared into the mirror with widened hazel eyes. It sounded like someone had left on their TV while watching a horror movie. That raised a single question: Who and why the hell would someone watch a horror film at nine in the morning? When I started to ponder that single question, the screaming abruptly ceased, leaving a long, eerie silence in its place. I waited for anymore sounds to come through, but still heard nothing more. _Probably turned off the TV,_ I told myself as I finished drying off my hair. _People and their oddities these days. It's just getting out of hand now._

Pushing those thoughts off, I brushed through my hair quickly, getting any knots that remained in my hair and smoothing it out. Satisfied, I put down the brush, took a few pieces of hair on my right side, and began braiding it back into a bit of a loose waterfall braid style, only it did not go completely around my head and remained on one side. It was something I usually did whenever I went out; I learned it from my mom who learned her from her mom (and so on). It helped me remind myself that I had a good life; a family, friends, a lover, and a beautiful home. In a way, although it did not make me stand out from a crowd, it helped me know that no matter what happens, the people I love will always be there even if I could not see them. It was reassuring, I guess, to have the braid there; in a weird sense, it reminded me of the people I loved.

After finishing the braid, I put on my undergarments before throwing on my tank top, fixing it a bit to make sure it looked decent. Then, I picked up the shorts and slipped them on. Once I buttoned the pants to complete the looked, I picked up the bracelet that Nathan gave to me, admiring it in the light for just a moment, before slipping it on my left wrist. After slipping on my socks rather quickly, I tossed the towel into the hamper, allowing my hair to air dry (since it did so rather quickly); I exited the bathroom and shut the door behind me before picking up my shoes. As I stood up, I looked over to find Nathan had finally woken up. Just as I he looked at me, I sent him a warm smile.

"Morning, sleepy head," I teased, moving over to the edge of the bed and sitting down. "I'm guessing you slept well?"

He looked around briefly, staring at the bat for a little longer than he should have, before sighing.

"A little…" He muttered just as I began slipping on my shoes.

"Did you forget about our date today?"

He looked at me and smiled.

"How could I forget when I'm the only who planned it?"

I giggled and said, "I suppose. But if you were the one who planned it, shouldn't it be you who is up and ready to go, not me?" Nate remained silent for a long moment before looking away, pretending he did not hear my question. I simply laughed at him before going on. "If I may inquire," I started, tying the first shoe so that it was tight enough to feel comfortable but not too tight to suffocate it, "why exactly did you fall asleep in front of the door?"

He sighed, running a hand through his hair lazily.

"You'd think I was an idiot if I told you the reason," he said, picking up his bat and placing it on his lap.

I looked at him as I began tying my other shoe.

"Try me."

Sighing again, he got to his feet and rolled up the sleeves of his thin grey jacket.

"Well…" He slowly started, appearing embarrassed as he began approaching me. "I can't lie to you, so I'll just come out and say it."

Before he had the chance to do so, I raised my hand to stop him. When he remained silent, I finished tying my shoe and got up.

"Let me guess. You were waiting to see if the zombies would come to this floor and attack us." When I received no response, I kept a warm smile. "Nathan, I love you, but I just know these things. And one thing that I do know is that there are no-"

I was abruptly interrupted by guttural and animalistic screech resonate throughout the hotel, stopping me dead in my tracks. The bone-chilling scream that echoed through my ears was enough to freeze me solid and cause Nathan to turn around – bat in hand – and stare at the door. I felt speechless, as if something entered my body and froze me from the inside out. It was a sound I had never heard of before in my life, and not only did it scare the daylights out of me, it made me want to hide in a corner and cower like a frightened dog. My heart race began picking up, pounding on my chest like a set of drums at concert.

"Son of a bitch…" I heard Nathan mutter. "I had a feeling they were closer than I thought…"

I looked at him, unable to find the words to speak, and simply looked back at the door. It was then that I suddenly heard the sounds of moaning and groaning…just outside the door that Nathan had leaned against. It sounded like a disembodied female, but I was unsure if my thoughts were true or not. The blonde looked at me, motioning for me to keep silent even though I was way ahead of him, before turning back to the door. Then, as quiet as a mouse, he slowly began making his way to the door, bat held securely in hand. Feeling the ability to move my legs once again, I, too, began following him, but at a much slower pace than him. By the time I had started walking, he was already in front of the door, patiently waiting for whatever was outside to respond. Silence was met as we both stopped simultaneously, waiting for something – anything – to happen. Nathan remained in his spot, staring at the door while holding onto his bat in case someone or something tried to break down the door. Still, the silence that had met us once before remained intact as if in a permanent state of mind. My heart continued to beat hard against my chest as I waited for whatever was out there to make some sort of sign of its presence. After another few minutes of silence, I watched as Nathan's bat lowered a bit, but not too much as he was still cautious. Then, he slowly looked back at me; his eyes held a look of terror, yet face remained calm.

"I don't know if it's gone," he whispered so low I thought I would not be able to hear him, "but I need you to go to the closet and-"

_**SMASH!**_

I screamed at the top of my lungs and took several steps back as Nathan swiftly turned back toward the door again, only to find a sight he had heard so much about. The middle of the door had been smashed to pieces, leaving a big enough hole to see who it was that created it. On the other side was something that nearly made me pass out of shock and rising anxiety. There stood a young woman, eyes a near white and dazed shade, with familiar, red colored side-swept bangs and short, choppy black hair. Part of her cheek had gone missing, and dried blood started to form around her lips and under her eyes. Her hands were covered in what appeared to be fresh blood, as if she had dug her fingers into someone who had recently died. She snarled at us as if she were some rabid dog ready to bite us if we got too close to it. I felt my face pale as I recognized just who the creature was; it was the same creature that had attacked and possibly killed Rita last night at the party, the one Nathan tried to protect me from.

That creature – that monster – was Rose.

"Oh my God…" I muttered, taking a few more steps back as my hand fell upon my lips. "Nathan…that's…that's Rose! She's…she's…"

"One of them, I know…" He finished my sentence, sounding calm and serious the whole time. "But it's not her anymore. It's a creature that has to be put down for good!"

The moment he said that, the infected Rose screamed at the top of her lungs and began tearing away at the door, not even bothering to try and break it down. Within seconds, Nathan had begun jabbing her roughly with the bat, trying to push her back. Unfortunately, it was not working and only enraged her further. After several more jabs – one landing right in her face – she screeched again before reaching out and grabbing hold of the bat, pulling Nathan toward her and bringing his arm through the hole in the door. He screamed at about the same time I did as I realized what was about to happen; that thing was going to tear him apart!

"ABBEY!" He shouted. "WEAPON! FIND A GODDAMN WEAPON!"

The moment he said those words, I ran over to the kitchen area and began looking through to find some sort of knife or anything that could easily remove her from Nathan's arm. My heart was racing in my chest and I could feel tears welling up out of the fear that began coursing through my veins. The sound of Nathan's screaming meant he was trying so desperately to get away from the creature, but was unable to, yet he continued to fight without rest. After what seemed like an eternity, I found a large knife big enough to possibly kill the demon. As much as I did not want to hurt Rose, I had no choice. I quickly ran back over to where Nathan was just as he pulled his arm back into the room. Unfortunately, he brought the creature along with it as it began eating his arm hungrily. I abruptly stopped the second she…it looked at me, teeth bearing and ready to kill in an instant. I noticed a huge chunk of its bicep was missing entirely, as if it was torn off by some animal. Blood splattered on its two piece bikini as well as on its skin. I wanted to avoid it, but the sound of Nathan screaming caused it to return to eating the flesh off his arm.

"_**DO IT! KILL THE BITCH!**_" He screamed, and that was all it took.

Screaming bloody murder, I raised the knife and slammed it into its head, causing it to release his arm and screech in pain. Before it started to move again, I ripped out the knife once more and slammed it into its head again, watching as it fell back outside the room and onto the floor. Fortunately, I was able to pull the knife out of its head once again before it fell back. Panting, I took several steps back and looked over myself, noticing the blood that now splattered my white top. Realization soon came to pass over what just happened; I had killed Rose – no, I had a killed the demon that tried to murder Nathan.

Speaking of which, I looked over at Nathan, who had slid to the floor while leaning against the dresser. He was gripping his arm and shaking violently as blood seeped out of his arm. He kept his eyes closed and gasped for air as if he were drowning.

"Oh my God! Nate!" I exclaimed, dropping the knife and running over to him, dropping to my knees in front of him. I wanted to help him off the ground, but I was too afraid to even touch him. "Jesus Christ! I…I'm so sorry!" I could feel the tears my eyes.

He looked at me with a pained expression, a smile slowly forming on his lips. How could he smile when he just got bitten by that thing? Was he insane?

"Don't worry…" He spoke, his voice shaky. "I'm…I'm fine. Just a couple of bites."

"Well, let me see it so I know what I'm dealing with," I said, taking hold of his bleeding arm gently. He hissed for a moment as he removed his hand from the wound slightly. The sight made me want to vomit on the spot. An open gash was what I found on his arm, blood pouring out of the wound at an alarming right. For a moment, I thought I could see bone, but I looked away before I had the chance to figure that out. "Holy shit…" I muttered, trying to keep whatever insides I had in me. "It looks…horrible."

"Yeah…I, uh, guess it does…" He chuckled weakly. I looked back at him, his smile still eminent on his face.

"Alright…uh…I-I'll go look for some bandages," I frantically told him. Just before I got up, he took hold of my shoulder with his bloody hand and forced me to stay. I looked at him, noticing his smile was now gone. "Nathan?"

"I'm…I'm sorry, Abbey…" He muttered. "But…but bandages won't heal what's happening to me…"

"W-what do you mean?" I questioned. "It'll keep you from getting infected, Nate! Then, we could find a doctor and-"

"Doctors won't be able to heal me, Abbey!" He shouted, making me flinch out of surprise. Then, he sighed shakily, as if something was starting to possess him. "I'm sorry for shouting…but there's no one who can help me. Doctors won't know, bandages won't keep the infection out…" His head lowered more. "There's nothing you can do…"

I felt my heart drop into my stomach at his words, feeling an overwhelming sense of helplessness. There was…_nothing_ I could do? No, there had to be something! I was not going to let whatever was wrong with him take him away. There had to be someone who could help him. I knew my way around the medicinal area, but it was not enough to actually be of some use. Bandages and painkillers could only go so far and I was still learning how to stitch people up when needed. Unfortunately, it would not be enough to heal whatever was inside of him, making me feel helpless toward him. I could hear in his voice, though, that he wanted someone to help him, to get rid of the infection, but at the same time knew there was nothing neither I nor anyone else can do to save him. He was a lost cause, and eventually he would become the creature that was Rose; he would eventually become a monster just like her.

"No…" I felt my voice choke up as that realization began to dawn on me. "No, Nathan…you can't do this. Someone needs to help you!"

He shook his head.

"No, Abbey, there isn't…" He said, his voice sounding weaker and weaker with every passing minute. "Once a person has been bitten…there's…nothing you can do to help them…" He paused for a moment as he inhaled a shaky breath of air. "Except…except for one…"

"What is it? I'll do anything if it means helping you!" I frantically spoke.

He remained silent for a long period of time, contemplating on whether or not he should continue his idea. After another minute or so, he sighed once again before looking me in the eye. His next words nearly brought me to the brink of tears:

"The only other way to help me…is to kill me."

I gasped and moved back a bit; shocked he would even say such a thing.

"W-what? N-no! No, I can't do that!" I exclaimed. "I can't kill you!"

"It's inevitable, sweetheart…" He murmured, sounding as if he was succumbing to the beast. "I'm becoming one of them…If that happens, you'll have to kill me to…to keep yourself…safe from harm…"

"But I don't wanna kill you if that's what it takes!"

"And I don't wanna hurt you if I start to lose my mind. That's the…the last thing I want to do…"

"Nathan…"

He looked at me, his blue eyes slowly turning dull as his life began to fade.

"I know that it's…it's a hard thing to…to do, but…but it must be done…" He spoke slowly. "In the closet…there are weapons you can use…to defend…yourself from those…things…" I whimpered with sadness and fear, which caused him to place his still bloody hand against my cheek, staining it with his own blood. "Abigail Mason…I love you…so, so much…I would never try to do anything to hurt you…It's the reason…why I was so afraid of this happening…because I thought..." He coughed a bit. "I thought that…I would not have the strength or…the courage…to protect you…" He smiled a saddened smile. "Unfortunately, protecting you is costing not just my life but your safety. At least…I was able to try and protect you…"

It was then that I started to feel tears roll down my cheeks at his words.

"I love you, too, Nathan Rodgers," I muttered. "And not matter what happens…whether I am forced to kill you or watch you die…I will always love you."

He closed his eyes.

"You may…think that…but things will start to change soon enough." He said.

Confused, I blinked twice.

"W-what do you mean?"

His eyes started to close.

"I don't want you to stay attached to me forever…it'll…it'll only hurt you in the end…keep you from truly being happy…" He inhaled, trying to keep himself awake and alive just for a little while longer. "I want you…to find someone…someone who will make you as happy as you were with me. Someone who will…keep you safe, even when the world is falling to pieces…" He smile grew slightly. "That's the kind of person…I want looking after you while…I'm gone…" I felt myself choking up as I placed my own hand atop his, gripping it tightly and never wanting to let go. "When I…when I pass on…take my jacket…and use it to protect yourself from those things…It's not much, but I'm hoping it'll help keep them from infecting you…" He closed his eyes, causing my chest to clench. "Don't ever forget us, Abbey…and never forget to find happiness…once again…"

With those few words spoken, I watched as his head started to hang low, lower than when he did so before. His hand began slipping away from my cheek and hand, smearing his blood against my caramel cheek, before dropping to his side limply. He exhaled one last time before becoming silent, unmoving, lifeless right before my own hazel eyes. Immediately, I felt my world come crashing down around me as I began moving away from his now limp and unmoving body. Hazel eyes were wide with devastation and horror. My body began shaking as my tears slipped down my cheeks. It was over; Nathan was gone forever, and there was nothing I could do to bring him back. I allowed him to die such a painfully slow death, a death no one should ever have to go through. Hell, I watched him die before my own eyes and did nothing to help! His words said that he was not upset with anything at all, and that his only regret was leaving me behind to fend for myself in this hellhole without help. I wanted to scream out, just scream so anyone nearby could hear my pain, but I feared that there was more than one creature on this floor and held it in. As painful as it was to hold it all in, I had no other choice but to do so. _And to think…that everyone, even my parents, was wrong this whole time_.

I felt my face turn pale at that thought entering my mind. Holy shit; my family! They were on the island, and there were these things wandering about! That only meant one thing; they were in serious danger and close to losing their life, or worse becoming one of them!

With my family in mind, I quickly got to my feet and ran over to the closet Nathan spoke about, where he stashed most of his weapons in case of an emergency like this were to occur. Who would have thought that I would have listened to him and actually gone to grab one of these weapons? Pushing that thought out of my mind, I reached the closet and nearly ripped open the door, spotting the other weapons he had stored in there. Several bats – metal and wooden – leaned on the wall of the left side; while a couple of machetes and other assorted knives leaned against the right side. On the floor were a four one shoulder bags filled with medical supplies – like bandages, painkillers, even medical kits. Falling to my knees, I began rummaging through the bags, finding at least three dozen bandages, twenty bottles of painkillers, and eight medical kits - each contained a needle and thread to stitch up wounds. They were all separated evenly into each bag, making it a little convenient for me.

For a moment, I thought he had it all planned out and just knew when this was all going to happen and what to have, but I pushed the thought out of my mind as I grabbed a light blue, one shoulder sling bag and pulled it towards me. Wanting to make sure I would have enough in case there were other survivors, I rummaged through the other bags, taking three more bandages from the others before taking out two bottles of painkillers from two bags and one from the third. After taking another medical kit from each, I did my best to store the bottles in the zipper pockets that were there while stuffing the med-kits and bandages inside the bag itself. I wanted to make sure I had enough room to store some food and water before making my way out into the open. It was going to be difficult, but it was the only way to keep myself from being enclosed with monsters like the creature that was once Rose.

Sighing, I was just about to pick up a machete and some knives, when I heard a low growling sound come from the doorway…where Nathan's body was located. My body froze at the sound, my chest clenching with fear and my heart pounding. Slowly, I began moving my head in the direction of the sound, my body once again shaking with fear and terror coursing through my veins. As my eyes fell upon the broken door, they immediately fell upon a pair of eyes, eyes that were once familiar to me but now were no longer the things I used to cherish. Instead, they were clear white, no trace of color other than the grey-ish yellow hue that was its pupils. What frightened me the most was that those eyes were locked onto mine, entrancing me in a gaze that turned me cold like the eyes of the mythical Medusa. I felt my breathing hitched as my mind clicked, figuring out what was happening and what it was that I was looking at: I was staring into the eyes of my deceased lover; I was staring into the eyes of the now infected Nathan Rodgers.

"N-Nathan…?" I whimpered helplessly, but it was the biggest mistake I ever made.

Suddenly, the infected Nathan screeched like a banshee, a scream that would forever haunt me, as it suddenly got up and started running towards me at what appeared to be lightning speed. I screamed leapt into the closet, just barely missing him run past me and crash into the table that was nearby. After quickly grabbing three diving knives and stuffing them into the already opened bag, I took hold of a machete closest to me before getting to my feet and running out. I looked at the demon for a split second, realizing it was quickly returning to its feet, before sprinting over to the destroyed door. Before I even had the chance to get close, it was suddenly on my back, causing to scream once again and fall to the ground. The second mistake I made that morning took place as I accidentally dropped the machete and watched helplessly as it landed at the foot of the door. Falling onto my chest with a thud, I was able to turn myself around and stare up at the being that was once Nathan, shivering violently as its teeth bore at me like a wild animal. It wasted no time in trying to attack me, leaning down in an attempt to latch onto any piece of flesh it could grab with its teeth. Fortunately, I was able to place one hand on his shoulder and the other against his face, keeping him away from me with all the strength I could muster.

_He's too strong!_ I shouted in my head as I looked up toward the machete. _I have to get the machete and…and kill him!_

It was that thought that caused me to make a third and fatal mistake.

The creature, suddenly, turned his head in the direction I was pushing it towards, causing my own arm to slip just as it turned its head back to me. I looked back at him at the wrong time, watching in horror and screaming bloody murder as it sank its teeth into my forearm, tearing into my muscle and close to ripping it off. However, just before he could tear it off, the hand that held onto its shoulder slipped off when it moved its head and landed on the floor as it sank its teeth into my forearm, landing on the knife that was used to kill Rose a while ago. Gripping it tightly, I quickly (and painfully) jammed it into its neck, which ultimately helped me keep the flesh on my arm. It screamed in pain, releasing my now bleeding arm and giving me the opportunity to kick it back and off my body.

Without hesitation and more on instinct, I rolled onto my stomach and got up, running toward the machete. The monster screamed as I heard it chasing me once again. This time, though, I was able to pick up my weapon and, in one swift motion, turned back around swinging. Screaming, I watched as the machete landed right into the side of his head, cutting smoothly through his skull and into his brain. Even a part of his eyeball cut in half upon impact, yet it was unplanned as it was just an uncoordinated swing to the head. It groaned in what I assumed was pain as I placed my foot against its chest and pushed it back, holding back the contents of my stomach as a few pieces of its brain slipped out of its head as I removed the machete.

All became quiet after the body collapsed onto the ground, blood seeping out of his head as well as a few more pieces of its brain. My heart racing, I stared at the body for a little while longer, registering what had just happened and making sure it was real and not some fantasy. After a long moment, I felt myself fall onto my knees, dropping the bloody machete in hand, before sobbing my eyes out. All the pain that had well up inside of me was starting to boil over, and the realization finally came to pass. Nathan was right; the only way to cure him of the infection was to kill him. It was the only way to free him from the pain he was possibly enduring inside. He may not have been himself anymore, but it was still Nathan to me. The man I had fallen in love with just five years ago, the man who treated me like a queen even when I told him not to, the man I wanted to be with for the rest of my life. It was the same man that I brutally murdered without a single ounce of hesitation to stop me. I felt like a murderer, a killer, but at the same time I felt as if I had helped him of his ailment as well.

My sobbing slowly started to die down at the one particular thought. _Yeah_, I thought to myself. _I did save him…sort of_. It may not have been in the fashion that I had hoped for – in fact, it was one I wanted to avoid altogether – but it was a way that saved him. Granted, I did not want to use the last resort as he had wanted before he died, but it was better that way than to remain undead and feeding on the flesh of those whom he had known and loved.

Speaking of those who were loved, my mind clicked once again back to reality. My family was still out there, possibly fending themselves against the demon attacks. Wiping the tears with my uninjured arm, I pulled the bag that remained on my back and rummaged through it, pulling out a bandage for my bitten arm. Not even bothering to clean up the seeping blood, I quickly began wrapping the bandage around my arm. I watched as the blood continued to seep through the clean white cloth despite how many times I wrapped it. Despite that, I continued to wrap it, moving up my arm a bit and stopped just below my elbow before moving back. I would have to bite through the pain, since I thought it would just waste my time when I knew my family was in danger. When the end of the bandage appeared, I quickly shoved it under the rest of the cloth covering my forearm, knowing it was secure enough to keep it from bleeding out. Unfortunately, not only did I feel a bit lightheaded from the loss of blood (since I realized it was partially ripped off my body), I feared it was only a matter of time before I became a demon like Nathan. How much time I had was beyond me, but I had to make the best of it while I still could.

Returning to my feet, I stepped over the dead body and made my way over to the kitchen. During that time, I had taken the diving knives that I had recklessly thrown inside the bag when Nathan attacked me and moved them into the zipper pockets along with some of the painkiller bottles. Once that was done, I opened the fridge, pulled out some water bottles, and placed them into the bag. After that, I moved on to the cabinets, searching for food that was small enough to carry, but enough to fill me up for a while. Searching through nearly every cabinet, I was able to find a box of Nutri-Grain bars unopened and still fresh in the box. Sighing, I grabbed it, tore it open, and dumped it into the bag as well. It may not have been much of a find, but it was worth it in the end. Feeling the need to find at least one more piece of food, I scrounged around once more, only coming upon some bread, which I chose against taking as it would spoil too easily. Just before I decided against leaving without anything thing more, I opened another cabinet to find a second box of Nutri-grain bars. This one was already opened, but appeared to be a well enough amount to last me a while. Not long, but enough.

After placing the contents of the box inside my bag, I zipped it up and returned it to lie on my bag. Glancing around the room for a minute, my eyes fell upon something near the alarm clock that had woke me up this morning. I decided to walk up to it and see what it was, only to discover that it was my wallet. I picked it up and opened it, finding something that broke my heart, but at the same time motivated me to leave. There were two different pictures – both of them including me – each with a piece of my own heart sewn into it. One of them was a picture of me and my family, the family that lived here, sitting on the couch and smiling for the camera. The second was a picture of Nathan and I near the beach just as the sun was starting to set, holding each other and smiling for the camera just like the first one. I remembered a friend of mine taking that picture and smiling the whole time; it made me wonder if she had survived as well. Still, as bad as it may sound to some, I always put my family first before friends, so finding them was my top priority.

Closing the wallet and placing it into my bag, I sighed before making my way over to the door, once again stepping over the deceased Nathan. Picking up the machete I had dropped moments before I ran to the kitchen, I turned back to look at the body of Nathan, staring at it for a long moment and remembering the events that had taken place. Suddenly, I remembered something that he had asked me to do before passing away. He asked me to take his jacket! How could I have forgotten such a simple, yet important task? It may have been a little late, since I had been bitten, but I wanted to hold onto to something that would remind me of him in the years to come.

Slowly, I moved back over to the body, dropping onto one knee and placing my machete next to me. He almost looked like a wax statue that had fallen over and was unable to get itself back up. Holding my breath, I placed my hands on the open jacket and began removing it little by little. Pulling the sleeves off him, I realized that there was going to be some blood on it. However, it no longer mattered, seeing as how I, too, had blood on my clothes as well. That being said, I was able to pull off his jacket, trying to keep at least most of the blood off although it was pretty futile. Removing the bag that was on my bag for just a moment, I slipped on the jacket, immediately smelling not only his blood, but his cologne, cologne that I had grown to love over the years. It was his scent, a scent I would never forget. I chose against zipping it up, since it was going to be hot, anyway (and I did not want to get winded in case another one of those things came after me). Pausing briefly, I looked at his face one last time, watching as it stared into nothing with just one eye and picturing the face of what used to be Nathan. Despite feeling myself tear up, I held it back, fighting against the sadness that ached to break through again.

"I love you, Nathan," I muttered, knowing I would never hear him respond to my words ever again. "I'll never forget you."

With that, I picked up my machete, got to my feet, and walked back to the door. Removing the chair from where it once was, I stared at the opening that trickled with some blood spatters from Rose's infected body. After another moment, I inhaled deeply before placing my hand on the handle and turning it, opening it to enter what was just the beginning, the portal into Hell.


	5. Encounters

Opening that broken and bloodied door was probably one of the most scariest things I had ever had the opportunities of doing in my entire life, especially when I had no idea as to whether or not I would come face to face with a half-dead creature ready to tear me apart. The eerie silence was what made things more creepy than it should have been, like a horror movie when one of the characters goes through an extremely creepy and silent house alone. Unfortunately, seeing as how there was no other way to leave the hotel, heading out the door was my only chance at trying to get out of the building and finding shelter, maybe even some survivors to stay with until help arrived. Staying here in my room with the rotting corpse of Nathan was only going to attract more of the demon's attention – if there was anymore up here to begin with. It was bad enough that I was already bitten by one of them and possibly becoming infected as we speak; it would be much worse to encounter more than one demon at one time by myself let alone become one of them as well.

Sighing a shaky breath, I poked my head out of the door way, looking down both ways of the hall and trying my very best to ignore the very prominent stench of the deceased, infected Rose lying in front of the door, blood still seeping from her wounds inflicted upon her head and pooling around her. The hallway was clear of creatures, but it certainly was not clear from blood stains and horrid smells of death and decaying bodies. The dark red colors splattered on the walls, the floors, even on the damn ceiling! It was as if someone took a container of red paint and threw it all over the room carelessly. Suitcases left behind by previous, possibly dead guests also had some blood on it, but I was more worried about getting out than about a bunch of stained suitcases without their owners. It was a shame to see them there, knowing that whoever left them there was no most likely gone, but now was not the time to be worrying about the dead. Well, it was, but the dead I was referring to was not the kind of dead that could come back to life to eat the flesh of those who were still living and breathing.

After another moment of heart-wrenching silence, I slowly moved out of the room and closed the door – softly to avoid any unneeded attraction – behind me. Gripping my machete tightly in my hand, I inhaled deeply, ignoring the smell of death entering my nostrils once again, and began making my way down the hall. The lights flickered every once in a while, but it was enough for me to see in front of me. Even if the lights flickered off, the light coming from the end – coming from the outside – was enough for me to see straight ahead for a while. The only reason I was moving slowly was to make sure I would not bring upon any attention to myself, in case there was something nearby waiting for an unsuspecting person to walk by. Glancing in every room with an open door, I continued to make my way down the hall, praying to whatever being existed in the sky that I would pull through at least getting the Hell out of the hotel alive and…well, mostly unscathed.

Upon that thought, I took a quick glance at my injured arm. The blood was slowly seeping through the bandages, but I knew it would last long enough to pull through until I could find help. It scared me to know that I was going to become one of them in an undetermined amount of time, know that I was going to attack the people I used to know and love. My friends and family being the most profound people I knew, people I truly did not want to hurt no matter what. Even though this thought ran through my head, I did not want it to cloud my mind entirely, sending me into a panic. I had to remain calm and focused, keep moving, and pray that I would find someone who could possibly help me. Unfortunately, Nathan's words continued to ring through my head. Was he right when he said there was no doctor on the island who could help me? Was he right when he said there was nothing I or anyone else could do to stop the fast-spreading infection? That was what I feared the most, but it was as I had said before: I had to remain calm, even if my time was slowly – painstakingly slowly – slipping away from my grasp.

After taking a few more steps, I made a right toward the sunlight in order to find the escape steps at my left and the balcony up ahead. The stairs was something I wanted to avoid for the time being, not wanting to encounter any zombies that may have been there, so the elevator – should it be in working order – was the next option. Just like the hallway, blood splatter was seen on the floor and walls. Suitcases also lied about, but I ignored those as I made my way toward the balcony. As I approached it, the sound of seagulls and distant waves lapping against the shoreline entered my ears. A light ocean breeze brushed against my revealed skin as the machete in my hand slowly lowered. I soon became relaxed for only a brief moment. Everything looked so perfect, calming my riled nerves as I looked out at everything. Unfortunately, as I stood there, I knew that looks could be deceiving. Now that I had seen what had happened here, what was the outside like? Were there more demons out there just like the hotel? Despite a sense of fear running through me, I knew that my family was still out there, possibly trying to defend themselves against any attacks by those things. It was the only thing that was keeping me going now.

Suddenly, just as I was about to turn toward the elevator and leave, the sounds of blood curtailing screamed and groaning entered my ears faster that the wind during a hurricane. When I looked back out, I was able to catch one creature – a tourist most likely – falling to its demise, followed by a second one. Its cries of agony echoing through the area, causing me to jump back out of shock. I would have screamed at the sight of them, but I knew exactly what their fate was to be, and held it in to avoid attracting the attention of something that may have been there. Swallowing hard, I took a few steps back from the balcony, trying to forget seeing what had happened moments ago, before slowly making my way over to the elevator.

Unfortunately, I abruptly stopped as the sound of something opening entered my ears. It came from the elevator, which only frightened me more. Raising my blade once again, I took a few more steps back for a moment, waiting for someone or something to appear in the elevator. Silence met my ears for a long moment, raising my anxiety that much more. Whoever was there had to come out sometime, not sit there waiting for something to happen. I was running out of time at the moment, and I had very little time to start with in the first place.

After waiting for another few seconds, I slowly began moving toward the elevator, holding the machete in front of me in case something that was no longer human appeared.

"H-hello?" I murmured, realizing my voice was shaky with fear. "I-is someone there…?" Silence was, once again, my only response. Swallowing hard, I stopped walking, gripping my machete tighter than before. "I-if you can hear me…a-a-and you're still…human...please, give me a sign."

It was at that exact moment that I saw a figure appear from the ceiling, landing on the floor with a bit of a thud that echoed through the elevator. The sudden sight made me shriek briefly, taking several steps back from the figure's location, pointing my weapon in its direction. It completely left my mind that something else could have heard me, but at the moment I was more worried about the figure in front of me. Surprisingly, as I shrieked, I watched said figure flinch before turning around. What caught my eye was something I truly did not expect to see. Hazel eyes recognized the green-eyed person standing in the elevator, and one name confirmed what my eyes were seeing to be real.

"Logan?"

The person, who I knew for a fact was Logan Carter, stared at me for a moment, as if he also recognized me as well. However, when he spoke, it completely threw me off guard for just a moment: "Abigail?"

I blinked with surprise. He knew my name? I never told him my name. That is, unless someone told him after I had stormed off into the crowd last night.

"Wait a minute…" I spoke, lowering my machete slightly. "How do you know my name?"

Before he had the chance to answer my question, the sound of a mechanical malfunction was heard, and the elevator jolted. Logan held onto the sides, looking around and wondering what was happening. Then, in a matter of seconds, he was gone in a flash as the elevator dropped like the Tower of Terror – some ride Nathan went on when he went to an amusement park in Florida. I gasped as I ran over to it, horrified that something like that happened so suddenly _and_ when someone non-infected was on it.

"_LOGAN!_" I exclaimed, watching helplessly as it fell, slammed to a halt for a good few seconds, before dropping again one last time.

As I watched it fall, a loud shriek sounded through the air, a shriek that made me freeze once again. Looking toward the entrance to the hallway, my hazel eyes caught sight of someone running in, stopping briefly as it looked out toward the scenery that I was watching moments before. In an instant, my eyes widened with surprise as yet another person stood there, a person that was very familiar to me.

"Rita!" I called out, recognizing the blonde hair that belonged to Nathan's ex-girlfriend. Despite the fact that we were never on good terms, I was just glad to see someone I knew alive and well. "Oh, thank God, you're alright. I could have sworn you were-"

My face paled as I cut short just as she turned her head toward me. The first thing that caught my eye was her neck; it was bleeding profusely, and blood was running down the rest of her body. Five distinct marks were spotted on different parts of her face, as if someone drove through nails into her. It was then that I realized something; Nathan mentioned that Rose had attacked Rita last night, biting her neck and holding onto her face so she would not scream out and alert someone else nearby (although I was sure it would have been seen, seeing as how someone was being eaten right before their eyes). Her guttural growl erupted from her as she eyed me hungrily, eyeing me as if I were some cuisine left out just for her. Frozen for a long moment by her piercing, dulled eyes, I slowly turned toward her direction, aiming my machete in her direction. At the same time, Rita – or the infected Rita, I should say – also turned toward me, leaning forward as if she were about to move on all fours as a predator would. Her growling was still present, and the glare in her eyes meant to kill in an instant. Both of us were waiting to make the wrong move before taking any further action. It was as if this creature had the mind set of an animal, waiting for its prey to make the first, and possibly fatal, mistake, a mistake that I unfortunately made.

As I took a small step to the side, I stepped on something that made me slip a little. In a matter of seconds, the demon screeched once again as the previous ones had done before and shot over to me as if an adrenaline burst ran through it. Not suspecting such a bold move, I quickly dropped to my knees and ducked as she leapt at me, passing me by just a few centimeters, and colliding into a small pile of suitcases behind me. Not wanting to stick around any longer, I quickly got to my feet and sprinted back into the hall, running over to the escape steps in an attempt to leave the demon behind on the floor I once called "mine." As I reached the door, the sound of the creature screaming sounded once again. Panicking, I tried to open the door, only to find that I was finding a bit of trouble. My heart began pounding against my chest as I continued to try and pry open the double doors. Taking a quick glance in the infected Rita's direction, I nearly shrieked as I watched her form appear in the lighting of the sun, looking at me with a gaze that would have frozen me dead had it not been for me trying to pry open the doors.

Looking back at the door for just a moment, I continued trying to open the door, cursing under my breath as the demon screamed once again.

"Come on, come on!" I shouted. "OPEN THE FUCK UP!"

As if on cue, the doors opened and I nearly fell inside, as if someone came from behind and just kicked it open. Without hesitation, I turned around and began shutting the doors behind me, not wanting the creature to come after me. Just as the doors closed, the creature slammed into it with so much strength that the doors reopened for a brief moment. Flinching with surprise, I began pushing it back closed, while it tried to pry its hand through the opening. Unable to do so, I was able to close the door again and keep it shut. All of a sudden, the glass window that was right next to my head smashed to pieces. I shrieked at the sudden sound, but kept my spot. The creature screamed as it tried to grab me, but before it could do just that, something came over me as I swung my machete at the arm. The attack easily sliced off its limb, causing it to shriek in pain and move out. Blood spurted out of the severed arm, landing on my clothes and face as it moved away. Just as the severed arm left the broken window while the creature continued to shriek in pain and what I believed was agony, I quickly looked around the staircases, only to find a bloody, rusty pipe lying on the floor near my feet. An idea sparked in my mind as I looked at it, deciding on using it as a makeshift barricade to hold the demon off for just a little while.

Mentally nodding at the quick plan, I used my foot to drag the rusty piece of metal over to me before picking it up. Turning around toward the doors, I placed the pipe in-between the handles of the door before taking a few steps back. Seconds after I placed the pipe there, the creature slammed into the door, but was fortunately kept closed thanks to the pipe. It looked through the window for a moment, its hard glaring at me as if it was pissed off at me for barricading the door. I went against taunting her; it was bad enough it was mad, and pissing it off was only going to make things worse. However, as I glanced at the pipe, I did notice the bend in the middle of it upon its impact on the doors, giving me the impression that I only had a limited amount of time to escape from the hotel before she broke through.

Not wanting to stick around for that to happen, I quickly began making my way down the stairs, careful as to not trip or injure myself. My heart was racing with fear and anxiety as I raced down several flights of stairs without so much as a glance as to whom or what was behind me. For a moment, it felt as if something was chasing me, but the feeling nearly disappeared with every step I took and every floor I passed by. Everything was slowly falling to chaos as I had seen. Not only did I encounter the infected body of Rose attack us without warning, but I witnessed Nathan become one of them, which forced me to kill him without so much as a single moment of hesitation. Not only that, but just when I thought I had some company – namely Logan, who I did not expect to see coming from the floor just above mine – he vanished in flash as the elevator he stood in dropped. To top it all off, the infected figure of Rita Martinez tried to attack me as well, but thanks to quick thinking and being fast on my feet, I was able to prevent her from eating me alive as Rose and Nathan tried to do what seemed like hours ago. The only thought that seemed to reassure me was the fact that Logan may have been alive in the hotel, seeing as how he had not been touched once by any creatures that may have been around on the floor above me. Unfortunately, I was unable to figure out if he was still alive now or if he was now lost to the demons.

_As much as I want to looking for him_, I told myself, passing by an open door and praying that there were no demons nearby; _I have to make sure that my family is safe._ I could not stay here, knowing that the people I loved were in danger thanks to the creatures that now lurked the island. Unless I was assured and knew that they were safe, I would be able to look for Logan, make sure he was safe, and get the fuck out of here. He may have been the man that caused me to "cheat" on Nathan, but this was a matter of life and death. No one – and I mean _no one_ – should ever have to endure something as horrifying and traumatizing as this, as what could possibly be known as a zombie apocalypse.

"ABIGAIL!" I stopped short as my name resonated in the staircase, a voice that I recognized immediately. I was about two floors down when the voice echoed to my ears, which would give me enough time to go back up and see if that voice was the person I recognized. As I looked up, I could hear the sounds of the same demons approaching at an alarming rate, causing me to panic once again for just a moment. However, just I started to panic, a loud slam was heard, as if a door was shutting. "Abigail, if you're still there, get the fuck back up here!"

I felt myself sigh with relief as I began making my way up the stairs.

"Logan!" I called out to him, making my way up the stairs at what I thought was a slow, yet quick pace. "Thank God, you're actually all right. I thought you were-"

I was cut short by the sound of one of those creatures shrieking. Was it possible that Rita had broken through the doors? Was that the reason why it felt like something was following me? Upon instinct, I began running back up the stairs, praying to find Logan safe from anything that might have followed me without my knowledge. As I reached the floor where I believed his voice was coming from, I stopped dead in my tracks and gasped unconsciously at the sight I found before my hazel eyes.

An infected – presumably a woman – looming over who I believed was Logan on all fours like an animal. Upon hearing my gasp, the creature abruptly turned its head toward me, giving me a clear view of what it was doing. I held back a shriek as I realized it had knocked Logan unconscious and taken bite out of him; not enough to be an open gash wound and kill him, but enough for it to bleed out. Apparently, I had arrived seconds before it was able to start eating him alive entirely, but unfortunately brought its attention to me. Teeth baring and hissing like a rattle snake, its dull eyes watched me intently for a long moment, so intently that it nearly resembled the look that the infected Rita had given to me moments before she attacked. Too shocked at the sight of seeing Logan bitten and unconscious, I did not realize what it was planning until I heard it shriek and leap at me.

Unable to step out of the way for fear of falling down the stairs and injuring myself further, I quickly raised my weapon high enough to keep its teeth from biting into my skin for the second time. However, it was able to block me from trying to escape; hands falling on either side of my head while it started snapping at me like a rabid dog snapping at an innocent cat. The blade of the machete was right up against its neck, but I was much too busy trying to keep it from biting me to try and slide it across its throat. However, the thought did not leave my mind. Pulling together as much strength as I could, I began pushing the blade against her neck, watching as the blade slid into her neck and blood began to pool out of it like a waterfall. Despite this, it was not letting up on trying to feast on my face and did everything it could to try and grab a hold of me. When I realized that it was at a safe enough distance for me to not get bit, I quickly and fluidly slid the blade across its throat. I did not realize just how far the blade had dug into its neck until I watched its head roll down the stairs that I just came up from while the body simply dropped to the ground.

Taking a minute to catch my breath and calm my nerves, I watched as the now headless zombie's blood began pooling around where its head would have been, draining out at an alarmingly fast rate. I took a glance down at its head, noticing the blood pooling around it as it began to drain of all life. Although my heart was pounding against my chest, my mind suddenly became focused at the real issue at hand. Eyes widening, I looked over at Logan's still limp body before running over to him.

"Logan!" I called him as I kneeled in front of him, setting down my machete for just a moment as I turned him so that he would be lying on his back. As I did that, I noticed his chest rising and falling, signaling that he was still alive and breathing. "Jesus Christ!" I muttered, looking back at his face. "Logan, can you hear me?" No response as his eyes remained closed, unmoving, and almost lifeless. "Please, Logan! Answer me!" I felt my voice cracking as I attempted to shake him awake, at least know that he was still okay. Unfortunately, I elicited no response. "Oh God! Please, Logan, don't turn now! Don't go turning into one of those...those things! I can't kill someone else I know!" My throat began to well up as I resisted the urge to burst into tears. In an attempt to try and save him, I quickly took his arm and placed it over my shoulder – similar to what he did last night – before placing my arm under him. "Come on! You've gotta get up! _Please!_" I spoke as if he was awake. "We have to-Ugh! Jesus, you're heavier than I thought!" – Seeing as how he was a former _NFL_ star, why would I not know that? – "Wake up, Logan! Please! We gotta go before-"

Yet again, I was cut off by a fast approaching scream, causing me to freeze and look up at the top of the stairs. Just as I did that, the bloodied and beaten form of Rita appeared immediately, stopping at the top of the stairs and eyeing me as if it had become enraged over the fact that I locked her behind those doors. My eyes widened as I removed my arm from under Logan while removing his arm from my shoulders. It snarled at me and watched me as I returned to my feet – not before grabbing hold of the machete before doing so. Now, I was, once again, stuck between a rock and a hard place. I wanted to try and help Logan, but with that thing there, it would be impossible. Of course, I could kill it as I had done to the other zombie, but I would still have difficulty getting Logan's unconscious body to his feet. That being said, it would be no surprise to find other demons lurking about the staircase as well. Still, leaving Logan behind would risk leaving him to be infected. I looked back at him, noticing the bite wound on his neck. Then again, he was already bitten and, like me, it would only be a matter of time before he turned as well. Did I really want to try to save the life of someone who was already lost to the untreatable infection?

It was then that tears began running down my face as I looked between the zombie and Logan. It was a tough decision to make on the spot, but there was no other choice left. At least, to me it felt that way.

"I...I'm sorry, Logan," I murmured as I took a step back. That step back was enough to make the infected Rita scream once more. "I swear I'll get someone to come back here and help you! I promise!"

With that said, I quickly began running down the stairs once more, nearly missing the blood that would have probably tripped me. The infected, unfortunately, was not so lucky. As I ran down the stairs, I heard it slip and fall down the stairs with several loud thuds, but it immediately screeched and continued chasing after me as if nothing happened. Cursing under my breath, I started taking small jumps as I reached the bottom of every staircase. The creature's screams echoed throughout the stairwell, bringing upon even more pressure upon my fear stricken mind than I thought possible. As I raced down the stairs, I came across another door, possibly leading to the outside instead of to the rest of the hotel. Without thinking, I quickly tried to ram it open, only to just slam into it and fall back. I yelped in pain, knowing I was going to be seeing a bruise there later on…should I survive, at least. Just like before, I tried to pry open the doors, but they seemed jammed (that, or I was in such a state of panic that I was having difficulty trying to open the door). Cursing at the door, I turned around just as the demon appeared before me, nearly tripping on the bottom step, and turning to face me. It sneered at me and growled for a moment, before screaming like a banshee.

Suddenly, I felt a strange burst of confidence fill my body as I stared her down. I knew she was going to attack in just a few seconds, and I knew the only way to get her off my back was to kill it. Glancing at my machete briefly, I looked back at it, glared, and raised my machete in front of me. _Enough with the fucking running, Abigail_, I told myself. _Nathan would think you a coward if he saw you doing something like this!_

"Come on, you disgusting bitch," I sneered at her. "I've always wanted to take you off at the head. Now…I can say it was out of self-defense…"

As I finished that sentence, she screamed one last time before running up to me, as if she was accepting my challenge. In a matter of seconds, I pulled my arms back, bringing the machete with them, before impaling the creature right between the eyes. At the exact moment that she ran into it, the force from her lunging at me pushed me back into the door. However, my back did not collide with the door, but fell back as light flooded the entire room and blinded me. Instead, I found myself colliding with the ground hard, while the body of Rita fell limp above me. It was almost as if someone had opened the door the second the creature lunged at me moments ago.

Wait…_someone_…

"Holy shit!" I heard a voice exclaim as I fell out of the stairwell and onto the ground of what I believed was the outside. "Kill it before it attacks us next!"

"Wait a minute!" Another voice – one I immediately recognized – entered. "It's already dead! There's a blade impaled in its head!" As the second voice spoke, I placed my hand on the deceased demon's shoulder and pulled my machete out of its head, tossing the body off to the side. My lungs felt as if they were on fire, and breathing in the oxygen of the outside world was starting to make it feel better. My eyes closed as I tried to regain my breathing for what I presumed was the third time in the last hour. However, it did not take long for the owner of the second voice to speak up again. "Oh my God…" He spoke. "Abigail? Is that you?"

Eyes opening once more, I found myself staring up at the familiar face of a friend I knew all too well.

"Sinamoi!" I exclaimed. "I don't fucking believe it!"

The head lifeguard, John Sinamoi, quickly offered me a hand, which I immediately took, as he said, "My God, Abigail, you're a bloody mess! Are you alright?"

I continued to catch my breath before looking up at him once again.

"I wish I could say that…" I responded before looking down at my bandaged forearm. "But I can't…"

It was the second that his eyes fell upon the bandage arm that he took a step back, as if touching me would make him poisoned. His friend, I presumed, also took a step back.

"She's been bitten!" The first voice exclaimed. I looked over at him only to find that it was another good friend of mine – James Stein – looking at me as if I had turned into one of those freaks right before his eyes. "She's gonna turn any second!"

"Calm down, James!" Sinamoi said, looking over his shoulder at him. "She's not one of them right now, so she's safe!" He looked back at me. "What the Hell happened in there?"

I remained silent for a moment before looking over at Rita's dead, infected body.

"These fucking things happened, that's what!" I nearly shouted, but resisted to avoid attention just like before. "I woke up just like any other day; at nine a.m. I'm getting for my date with Nathan when all of a sudden…this…this thing smashed through the Goddamn door!" Memories began to flood my head as I remembered watching the infected Rose take a bite out of Nathan's forearm. I felt like breaking down, but I held on.

"What happened, Abigail," asked Sinamoi, placing his hands on my shoulders. "What the Hell happened?"

I was silent for a long moment, trying not to break down in front of him, before looking him dead in the eye.

"I had to…I had to fucking kill Nathan…"

I watched as his expression turn from worry to shock in a split second. I knew too well that Sinamoi and Nathan were the best of friends. Ever since Nathan came here, they were like long lost brothers. Whenever he had a secret, Nathan would go to him. It was as if every secret that had something to do with us went straight to Sinamoi. From the way I saw it, the lifeguard probably knew more about my relationship with Nathan than I did. It was strange to admit it, but that was the truth, especially in the recent times. Sinamoi seemed to know what was going to happen today had it not been for the outbreak, but promised Nathan not to say a word to me about it. They were working together, I assumed; keeping secrets that I had no clue about, but both assured me that it was something that I was going to love and remember for years to come. The only part they got down was the fact that I was definitely going to remember this in the years to come, but I certainly did not love it. Unfortunately, I would never be able to find out what it was that Nathan had planned for me today. I would never be able to find out what was going through his head.

"Goddamn it…" Sinamoi muttered, taking the news a lot better than I did – then again, I was the one who bashed his head open with a machete, so it was no surprise. "The poor bastard…"

"There was nothing I could do, he said," I explained, looking around more on instinct in case something was to attack me from nowhere. "I felt so fucking helpless…as I watched him die."

He looked at me again, remaining calm during a dangerous time like this.

"At least you're alright," he said. "That was what he would want."

I would have smiled as a bit of a response, when I realized something else that was just as important. A promise I made before bolting my way out of the hotel.

"Oh God…" I muttered. Before Sinamoi had a chance to ask what was wrong, I looked back at him. "You have to go in there! There's a survivor in there!"

"A survivor," he questioned, earning a frantic nod from me. He looked at James. "Looks like that guy on the radio was right."

I appeared confused at first, before pushing his words off.

"Please, you have to go in there and help him, Sinamoi! He's hurt, and I didn't want to leave him there to die but...but I didn't have a choice!"

He looked back at me.

"Relax, the three of us will go back in there and look for him, then we'll make our way back to the Pool House near the beach," he explained, causing me to look at him oddly as he removed his hands from my shoulders. "There are other survivors there, so he'll be safe there."

"Wait a minute. I can't go with you," I told him.

He mirrored my odd expression.

"What do you mean you can't go with us?" He questioned.

"I have to find my family, Sinamoi!" I explained. "They're still out there, possibly fighting for their lives! I can't leave them out there without any help!"

"That's granting them a death wish in your condition!" James said. "You go looking for them, who's to say that you won't turn on them because of that bite?"

I looked at James, knowing full well just what might happen.

"I know that it's a stupid idea, but if I can get them to the location of the other survivors – the Pool House, I believe Sinamoi mentioned – then I'll know they're safe and can…" I hesitated briefly. "I can die without…without too many regrets."

"Don't go saying that, Abigail," Sinamoi spoke up. "What would Nathan think if he heard you talking like this?"

"There's nothing he can do to stop this, Sinamoi! How else _can_ I act?" I snapped. "I've been bitten by one of those things and it's only a matter of time before I go turning into one of them. The least I can do is get my family to safety before I go attacking them!" I closed my eyes. "And if I do start changing, Sinamoi…I give you full permission to finish me off."

He looked at me as if it would be the very last time he would ever see me before I turned into one of those demons. It was hard for me to think about, knowing that I was going to die and come back to finish off what was left of the living, but what choice did I have? I was bitten, end of discussion. There was nothing I could do to reverse time and change the past. The inevitable was going to happen eventually, so there was no point in trying to keep myself from trying to help the last people I loved before dying. If I knew that they would be safe in Sinamoi's care, then dying would not be so bad. I would not have so many regrets lingering over my head when I "passed on." The reason I say not so many regrets is because…there are still some things that I would never be able to change now.

After a long moment, he sighed and shook his head.

"Alright…" He muttered. "I'll let you go look for them. But make sure you get back to Pool House before you start changing. Alright?"

For the first time in what seemed like a long time, I smiled weakly.

"I don't think I'll be able to keep that promise, Sinamoi," I said, "but I'll do what I can…" I looked back toward the door of the hotel. "Now go! He should be up several flights lying in the hallway. You can't miss him!"

With that, we parted in opposite ways. As I began running, I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that that would be the very last time I would ever see Sinamoi again.


	6. Family Reunion

My heart pounded against my heaving chest as I sprinted my way down to the bungalow that my family lived in, praying that they were safe from anything that would attempt to break inside. The thought of them getting hurt plagued my mind and grew more and more vivid with every step toward the Golden Bungalows near the Diamond Beach. I feared the worst had fallen upon them, feared that they were caught by surprise by those things, but I would quickly push those thoughts so far out of my mind it would make me forget. Unfortunately, as I continued to run, I spotted a few of the creatures at a distance – they were unable to see me, which was good on my part – and it made me that much more worried about their condition and safety. How was I supposed to know if they were safe? I was all the way at the hotel, running as fast as my legs could take me, and frantically passing several groups of freaks in the streets or nearby bungalows. Unless I had gotten a call from them, which was something I should have done before leaving the hotel room, there would be no possible way of knowing if they were still alive or "dead" until I reached the bungalow I called home.

Leaping down a flight of steps, I chose to take a quick breath, not wanting to tire myself out should a group of those demons came after me, forcing me to run off. All that running from the hotel all the way to Golden Bungalows District took a lot out of me, and I hoped that none of the demons spotted me and began chasing after me. It was bad being inside the hotel with them, not knowing where they could pop out from, but being outside happened to be much worse. With the ability to hear them from afar, one could not know if they could be hiding in the brushes or inside buildings once owned by regular people until it was too late. That was why I chose to keep running without having to stop; I did not want to slow down for even a second and risk a zombie jumping on me from behind and finishing me off as the others inside the building wanted to do. Running was the best – and possibly only way – to escape them, even if it took out a lot of stamina in the process. In the end, though, it was worth it. If you were still alive and feeling as if your lungs would burst, then you know you did a good enough job.

After catching my breath a little, I looked forward for a brief moment, only to find a small group of about three zombies walking in a certain direction – a direction in which I was heading toward at that very moment, a direction that my home was located. Panic filling my mind and the rest of my body, I immediately sprinted in the same direction they had been walking to before turning the corner, sliding to a halt to find a sight that almost made me want to pass out from horror. A horde of those things surrounded one bungalow – my bungalow – and were doing everything and anything to get inside; slamming against the doors, the walls, even putting their fists into the windows with blood stained hands and frantically trying to enter the building. They had to have heard them or smelt them – whatever sense they used to locate the living – from a distance, or heard their comrades attacking the building before making their way over. Whatever it was brought them to this location, and the odds were becoming grim.

I was unable to hear any recognizable voices of normal people, fearing the worst had come to the family that was mine. However, instead of running away, I suddenly gripped my machete tightly, pushing the negative thoughts out of my mind. I had to spot thinking of the worst case scenario. It was my family that I was talking about; the people who shaped me into the person I knew today. They supported me in nearly everything that I did, and did not let me down for even a second. They were the people who picked me up off the ground when I fell, and put a smile on my face whenever I was sad. Now, I supposed killing those things was the only way to repay them for twenty-five years of support and love. At least, that was how I saw it, which kind of references the whole "not having too many regrets before I die" idea I had spoken to Sinamoi about before arriving here.

Without another thought of negativity, I sprinted over the front doors, pushing away the zombies that tried to break it down. It caused a bit of a domino effect, as the first zombie brought down the second one next to it as well the third. Turning a bit, I used my bloody machete to slice off the head of another zombie – the second decapitation to date – before turning back to the others. They were slowly trying to return to their feet, while a few more zombies started to make their way to my location. Fearing that I would not be able to take them all on at once, I went with the next best thing; I busted the door open before slamming it shut behind me. It appeared that there was couch on its way to blocking the doors, but only blocked one of the double doors and not the other, giving me the opportunity to enter my home. Deciding to finish what was already started, I pulled the couch the rest of the way, blocking off the zombies that may have arrived to break into the bungalow. Sighing, I hoped this blockade would last longer than the last one, causing me to leave behind Logan in a stairwell by himself.

Not wanting to worry about more than one person at a time, I turned around to examine the bungalow. Hazel eyes with shock as I found blood spatter on different parts of the living room, mainly coming from the front doors and leading into the bedroom. The blood had landed on other parts as well, like on some of the bookshelves and tables nearby. There were a few picture frames that had fallen to the floor, small pieces of glass having fallen out of the frame and scattered about on the floor. It was not until I heard a slam against the door that I decided to check the bedroom.

"Hello!" I called out. "Is everyone all right? Are you guys okay?"

My worst fear came to mind; I heard no response from anyone as I slowly made my way toward the room. Swallowing hard, I approached the closed door in silence, hoping that they were trying to remain silent or that they just could not hear me at the moment. Not wanting to wait anymore, I quickly pushed the door open, walking inside armed and ready to fight any more of those freaks. The second I walked inside and got a good look at my surroundings, I screamed a blood curtailing scream.

Four lone bodies – one lying on the bed and the other three lying on the floor (two of them haphazardly I might add) – were the only things in the room. Blood was splattered agains the ground, staining the sheets of the bed and anything else nearby. The body that was on the bed was a woman, no older than forty-seven years of age, lying face down, blood staining the once blue and white blankets. Her hair, about the same shade as my own, covered her face in a messy manner, but I could still see blood streaming out of her neck as a chunk of skin was missing from it, tearing off the main artery leading to her brain and killing her instantly. She had on a regular red-orange t-shirt and some shorts – both of which were now stained with her own blood. She had also removed her scandals in a possibly futile attempt at running from whatever was chasing after her – possibly one of the creatures on the floor. Even from where I stood and the lighting of the room, I could easily tell that she had been dead for time. For how long was beyond me, but the fact that she was dead was enough to frighten every fiber of my being. It frightened so severely because of one simple fact; the woman lying on the bed was my own mother, Patricia Mason, whom I had attained my senses of nobility (and what she thinks is courage, though I have yet to see that).

"Oh God…" I muttered, taking a small step toward her and ignoring the sounds of the groaning zombies still outside. "Mom…I'm so sorry…"

Knowing that I would never get a response, I looked over at the other three bodies on the floor. Two out of the three I was unable to recognize as they lied in different spots of the room – one lied near the edge of the bed, where my mother's body resided, while the other lied against the door leading to the outside. However, I could tell that those people were dead for much longer than the body of Patricia and the third person lying in the room. That third person I had also recognized immediately. It was the well built frame of a fifty-one year old man, whose skin was once a shade of tan but now appeared sickly and almost pale. His hair, which was close to a brown shade but began thinning and graying at some point, had splatters of blood. He was leaning against the wall, his head hanging low, and blood running down the front of his white t-shirt and his arms. It ran down the front and onto his jeans, which seemed odd on such a tropical island as this. At the moment, I was unable to tell where the blood was coming from (even though it was most likely coming from either his neck or from some injury to his face, but I no longer cared about that. What I cared about was that I was too late to also save my own father, Kesler Mason, from the hands of these bastard demons.

Unable to withstand the realization of having lost both parents to these things, I fell to my knees and allowed the tears that wanted to escape to fall. I was too late to help them, too late to prevent them from being brutally murdered. Two of them were able to get inside based on the two bodies that I did not recognize, attacked, and killed them without so much as a moment of hesitation. It was clear they tried to fight back, as their arms also had claw marks as the creatures tried to claw their way up to their preys' faces. Unfortunately, the demons turned out to be the victor, but at the same time lost their lives possibly to one of my parents killing them before dying themselves. Still, it was not enough; it was not enough to fend for themselves for just a little while longer, to live for a little while longer. It was not enough to keep those demons away from them. I ran out of time, time that I had very little of to start with in the first place. I failed to protect them as I had promised to do when I was just a young child; I had failed as their child, their daughter. In fact, I had failed as a person who always, _always_, kept a promise no matter what.

This realization made me want to scream out loud, to anyone that may have been nearby and had the guts to fight through the creatures outside. However, before I had the chance to do just that, I heard something, something that gave me one of the slimmest threads of hope I ever thought could be made.

"Abbey?"

My head shot forward, looking past the body of my father, before turning in the direction of the bathroom. The voice was faint, but it was loud enough for me to hear so clearly through the sounds coming from outside. Seconds after hearing that particular voice, I sprung to my feet and ran over to the first door leading the bathroom. Turning my head left, I tried to open the second door that was the bathroom door, only to find that it was locked from the inside. Not wanting to deal with knocking, I went with the second best option: breaking it down. Mustering up all of my strength, I raised my foot and slammed into the door, causing it to open upon impact. The lock had broken off as I did that and pieces of wood broke off, but I did not care. Entering swiftly, I looked over toward the bathtub, finding something that gave me even more hope than before.

I found myself looking into a pair of innocent looking, mismatched eyes – the left eye being blue, the right eye being green. I recognized those eyes within seconds; they belonged to a young boy, no older than at least eleven or twelve years old. His hair was straight and shielded his forehead nicely – or did at one point, but now it was a bit messy due to everything that has happened thus far. His face was stricken with fear and terror, more so than my own. As I stood there, I noticed he was wearing a light blue t-shirt with shorts and sneakers. Obviously, his parents had prepared him for making an escape, similar to what I did back inside the hotel. There were a few blood stains on his face, arms, and shirt; but other than that, he appeared completely unscathed, unharmed by any of the creatures that resided outside of the building or even the ones inside. That was the only safe bet that he was not infected by any of those things.

Machete falling out of my hand out of relief and surprise, I felt myself sigh as a sense of solace overcame me, even if it was for just a moment. I watched the boy get out of the tub, widened eyes never leaving mine.

"Drake…" I muttered, a small, relieved smile appearing on my lips. Then, I fell to my knees once again just as the boy, named Drake, ran up to me and threw his arms around my neck, holding me tightly. I wrapped my own arms around his small frame, placing a hand on his hair and holding him just as tightly. "Thank God you're all right…I thought the worst had happened to you…"

"I'm just glad to know that you're safe," he said, his voice shaky as he tried to sound calm. "I thought for sure I lost my big sister to those…things outside."

It was when he spoke those words that reality hit me once again. However, instead of bawling my eyes out again, I pushed back all of the emotions I felt at that moment before pulling away, looking into his mismatched eyes. Despite the fact that he was young and scared, the look in his eyes gave me a strong sense of hope, the strength to keep moving forward despite everything going on. It was because of that boy, because of my little brother Drake Mason; that I refused to cry like some scared little child. It was because of him that gave odd senses of courage whenever I was around him. I knew for a fact that he looked up to me as if I was his only role model, and as such I did not want to show any kind of weakness. Despite that, he was a lot smarter than he made himself out to be. To many, he appeared as a regular little boy just starting to get an idea of what the world was really like for themselves, when in reality he knew just what the world was like. He was smart, able to figure things out, things that most adults would not tell a child so as to not scare him. He knew those little things, and was not afraid to point those things out openly to anyone; even to someone he did not know. Even now, even though he was scared, he knew exactly what was happening; a zombie apocalypse had struck the island, and it spread out throughout the island. Because of it, our parents had met their untimely end all too soon.

"I…I'm sorry, Drake…" I muttered. "I'm sorry about mom and dad…" My head lowered. "I wanted to…to save them…but I got here too late…"

Drake looked at me as if I had done nothing wrong – which in some sense, I did not.

"But they didn't die because of you," he spoke, his voice calm despite the look in his eyes. "They knew you were on the way, but they also knew that you would not make it here on time to help us. They didn't know what else to do but fight." I looked back at him. "Mom told me, before she hid me in the bathroom, to tell you that she and dad don't blame you for what happened. They will still love you no matter what."

A surge of guilt ran through my body at his words as I said, "But it's not just this…I…I never got the chance…to say I'm sorry…" Drake stared at me for a long moment, unsure as to what else he should say to my words, before I looked back at him with a bit more confidence. "Well, what's done is done. Nothing I can do now but to get you out of here before…"

"Before what…?"

I stared into his eyes intently, feeling ashamed to tell him what happened to me in the hotel, but I had no choice.

"Before…" I started as I showed him my bandaged hand, "I turn into one of them." His eyes widened at my words as well as the sight of bandages, which slowly becoming more and more soaked with blood. Before he could say anything, I got to my feet. "I don't know how long it'll take before the effects start to kick in, but until then, I have to take you over to the Pool House. I'm hoping Sinamoi returned there safely."

"Sinamoi is still alive?" Drake chimed in, a look of hope filling his mismatched eyes. I gave him a single nod. "What about Nathan? Is he there, too?"

I fell silent as the all too familiar name left his lips, nearly forgetting about what I had done to Nathan. It hurt to know that Drake was sitting in the bathroom all by himself, listening to the groaning sounds of the creatures outside as they desperately tried to get inside. However, it was worse to tell him the grim news that Nathan was gone; that I had to kill him out of self-defense which may have cost me my own life, seeing as how I was bitten before I killed him. Drake looked up to Nathan as a bit of a big brother figure despite the fact that he and I were dating. They spent a lot of time together, and learned so much about life outside of Banoi. They were inseparable, so much Drake would always ask about Nathan whenever he saw me by myself. It killed me on the inside to know that I was the reason one of his best friends was gone. Believe me, it killed me just thinking about the painful memories of watching him die a slow and painful death only to slice his head open with a machete just to kill him a second time.

After a long moment of pure silence between the both of us, it did not take long for Drake to put two and two together to get the final result.

"He's dead, isn't he?" I flinched by how easily he was able to say it, but I could easily sense the hurt in his voice. When I did not respond, I noticed out of the corner of my eye his head lowering. "I see…"

Not wanting to stick to the subject anymore, I looked at him and said, "We can't stay here anymore. We have to move out of here as fast as we can before they can get inside."

He said nothing more on the matter of Nathan's death, not exactly sure what to say to such a thing. I picked up my machete and silently lead him out of the bathroom and into the room that housed the bodies. Even though there was a door to the outside near the bathroom, I did not want to take my chances on getting caught by those things. Instead, I had to figure out a way to distract them – bait them with something – before making a run for the Pool House that Sinamoi had mentioned to me. As we entered the room, Drake made no signs of fear or whimper out of sadness. It was as if his mind had grown used to the sights and the sounds of death. It made me worry about him for just a moment, but decided to push it off. What I had to worry about right now was getting him out of this hellhole before he got himself killed. The question was: How was I going to do that when we were nearly surrounded by those demons outside?

Before I could answer that question and exit the room, something took hold of my ankle and yanked on it; _hard_. I shrieked as I fell to the floor, releasing my blade upon impact. Drake turned around as he heard the shriek, but froze in his spot as he spotted just what had taken hold of me. Before I could turn to see, the person – or judging by the bodies, a zombie – dragged me back toward it. This caused my tank top to rise just enough to reveal my stomach as I was dragged across the floor. I started to struggle – kicking and taking hold of anything nearby – before I was finally able turn myself around and figure out just who was holding onto me. I felt my face turn pale as my hazel eyes fell upon the eyes of the person I had once called my – our – father; it was Kesler. Just like the others before him, he snarled at me and growled like an animal. Transfixed by the fact that my father had turned into one of those things, he – no, _it_ – suddenly lunged downward, sinking its teeth into my side and tearing off a small portion of flesh. I screamed out loud in pain and surprise at the action, doing everything I could to push it off me but was unable to do so as it tore off another piece of my flesh.

"ABBEY!" Drake exclaimed in a frantic state. It was now eminent in his voice that he was scared out of his mind as he watched what was once his father tearing into his sister's flesh like a wild coyote. It was then that something clicked in my mind.

"DRAKE! MY MACHETE," I shouted at him. "THE SWORD ON THE FLOOR! PASS IT TO ME!"

In just a few seconds, I looked up to see him kicking it over to me just as the zombie took a third bite out of my side, swallowing my skin before going down for more. I could feel the blood pool out of my wound at an alarming rate, making me feel lightheaded all of a sudden. However, I was able to grab hold of the blade just before it could tear me apart anymore.

"DRAKE, LOOK AWAY!" I screamed as I raised the blade above me, not wanting him to watch me murder my own father. Before it could finish moved tearing any more skin off me, I drove the machete into his head, watching as it stabbed into it with one clean move. In an instant, the demon stilled and fell limp, unable to function any longer and finally dying on top of me. Panting, I did not have time to mourn the re-death of my father as pulled out the blade – it took some effort, but I was able to do it – and pushed the body off me. Unfortunately, it did not end there.

"ABBEY, HELP!" I heard Drake call out to me before the sound of crashing erupted.

Ignoring the injury I had sustained, I was on my feet and running into the living room. As I entered, I found Drake running over to me, arms wrapping around my waist and causing me to flinch slightly out of pain. Looking forward, my hazel eyes widened as I spotted a familiar looking creature getting up from the table that had shattered to pieces after it most likely leapt on it. Turning its head at what almost looked at breakneck speed, my mind confirmed the inevitable; the demon that had tried to attack my little brother was our mother Patricia. She hissed hungrily as it eyed the both of us with the intent to kill. Raising my blade, I watched her intently despite the fact that I was starting to become more and more lightheaded. I was not sure if it was because the infection was starting to take effect or if it was due to the blood loss from my open wound, but I chose to worry about that until later.

"Drake…look away…" I muttered to him as the creature got to its feet. "I don't want you to see this…"

In an instant, he buried his face into my side, trying to block out the sounds that were to come soon. The moment he did just that, the creature screeched loudly, as if I had suddenly let my guard down, before running toward us at what I considered lightning speed. It did not take very long for her to reach us, and it did not take very long for me to react out of instinct. Without hesitating, I swung my machete diagonally, catching the side of its head mere seconds before its hands could get a hold of me. In seconds, the blade sliced half its face off, cutting through one of its eyes as blood and pieces of its brain spurted out just before it fell to the ground lifelessly. She was like a robot that had its plug removed at the last second. It was quick, quicker than I thought, but it was enough to put our mother out of her misery forever.

Sighing with a bit of relief, I looked down at Drake, who still had his face buried in my uninjured side.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, placing a gentle hand atop his head. It did not take long for him to look up at me.

"I should be asking you that question," he responded. "You're the one that's bleeding out right now."

A weakened smile fell on my lips as I looked down at the body of my deceased mother. It was when I noticed pieces of her brain matter on the floor that an idea popped into my head. Looking around the room, I was able to spot an empty container on the floor, unscathed despite the zombie falling into it. Still, it looked breakable if thrown with enough force.

"Drake, do me a favor," I spoke suddenly. "Go over there and pick up that container. I think I've found a way to get these things distracted for a little while."

He looked at me for a moment, but said nothing as he made his way over to the shattered table. I dropped down to one knee in front of my mother's near-severed head, refusing to vomit at the sight of the blood and brain matter that had splattered to the floor, while placing my machete next to me for the time being. I hissed with pain over the injury that still resided in my side, but I went against worrying about that and focused on what I was doing now. It was something I did not want to do – defile the body of my mother – but when there were very little options at the time I had no other choices. I heard Drake run up to me a few seconds later before he handed the container to me. Taking it from him, I held my breath unconsciously as I opened the top and began scooping up the contents of the brains that had fallen to the floor. I could hear my brother start gagging at the sight, but in the back of my mind I had a feeling he knew my reason behind why I was doing such a horrible thing. Once the pieces of the brain were off the floor, I exhaled briefly in order to get some oxygen in me, before holding it in again to go for the rest of it.

Hey, after having watched too many zombie movies thanks to Nathan, the first thing that comes to mind is they eat brains. As cliché as it was, it was better than doing nothing at all and waiting for death to come.

After that was over and done with, I shut the lid and, once again, exhaled. Then, I took a moment to look around the room, spotting a window directly behind me. It was closed at the present time, but appeared as though it had gone through a serious beating from the creatures outside. A small smile crept on my face once again as I looked over at Drake once more, noticing him turn his head back toward me.

"Can you do me another favor?" I said to him.

He stared at me briefly before saying, "It doesn't have anything to do with scooping out the organs of the zombies, does it?"

I felt myself chuckle briefly.

"No, it has nothing to do with that," I assured him. He turned to me slightly as I continued. "I need you to go over to the window," I pointed to the window I was looking at before, "and when I say so, I want you to open it."

He looked over at the window curiously before looking at me.

"You're gonna put the things dad and Nathan taught you to good use, right?"

I nodded once as he made his way over to the window, stepping on top of a table in order to reach it. He was not extremely tall – he was about five foot one, while I stood at about five foot seven – but he wanted to make sure he was able to reach the window in case he would have to close it quickly.

"Mom said I wouldn't need to learn anything about football, but it's a good thing they taught me how to throw a damn ball."

He laughed as well as he got ready to open the window. Positioning the container in my hand as if I were holding a football, I took a few deep breaths in order to concentrate. Focus was the most important part of the game – so said the number one fan of Logan Carter – and was focus that assisted in winning the game. In this case, it was focus that would assist in getting the zombies away for good enough time to escape. I took a few more deep breaths before glancing at Drake, who had turned his head with an expectant look on his face. When I felt ready, I sent him a small nod to let him know that it was okay to open it. After returning it, he quickly opened the window and ducked down, just in case any of them tried to enter the window. Not wanting to take any chances, I pulled back my arm and launched it. Fortunately for the both of us, it went straight through the window just as I had anticipated. Quickly, I motioned for Drake to close the window, which he did without having to be told twice.

Just before he closed the window completely, the sound of glass shattering was heard and resonated briefly so that we could hear it. In an instant, the banging and scratching that came from the zombies halted just as the sound was made. Wanting to be sure that they had actually taken the bait, I quickly made my way over to the window, cracking it open slightly in order to get a good look outside without getting spotted by any creatures passing nearby. Just as I had thought, every single one of them had flocked to the vicinity in which the sound had erupted before fighting over who got a piece of the "food" on the ground. I hoped that it would be enough to hold them off for just a little while until Drake and I got at a safe enough distance from them. It was hard to leave home, knowing that it was going to be permanent, but there was nothing left for either of us. Not anymore, at least. The only option that the both of us – well, more Drake than myself – was to head to the Pool House down at the Golden Beach, hope that Sinamoi made it back alive, and avoid any unnecessary trouble that would come.

"Come on, Drake," I quickly spoke, shutting the window and looking down at him. "Let's get the Hell out of here before they start knocking again."

"What about our stuff?" He questioned.

I shook my head as I walked over to pick up my machete once again.

"There's nothing left for us here, Drake. We have to make our way down to the Pool House on the Golden Beach while we still can. Sinamoi should be there waiting for us."

"But Abbey," he started as we made our way back to the bedroom, "isn't it more dangerous to go out there, not knowing if anything else will come out and attack us?"

I remained silent for a moment as we approached the door. He was right in every way. It was much more dangerous to go wandering in the open with very little protection against those things, but it was the only thing that we could do in order to survive. We would have to move fast, not look back, and pray that we would make it to point B unscathed. Well, I was more worried about Drake making it there unscathed than I was, seeing as how it was too late to save myself. Still, the possibility of getting him infected still lingered in my mind. I closed my eyes briefly. There was no other option when it came to going outside on our own. Staying here would result in either the creatures breaking in at one point or another, wasting what little food we had left and starving to death, or eventually dying and attacking Drake. Either way, death was inevitable for both of us if we stayed here. It was as I had said before; there was nothing left for us here anymore. What we had left was destroyed by those things outside.

I looked down at him and gave him a reassuring smile.

"I'd rather have a moderately clear conscious when I die than a plagued one, Drake," I said to him, placing my hand on the handle leading to the outside. "I don't want you to die here by yourself. Hell, I don't want you to die at all. Better to give you to someone I know will keep you safe than leave you here alone."

He looked up at me, his expression now unreadable, but said nothing more. Instead, he took of my wrist – the one holding the machete – and looked at me. It was a sign saying that he was ready to go, ready to leave the place he once called home with his elder sister. Smiling warmly down at him, I looked back at the door and quickly turned the handle downward, opening it slowly to observe the outside in case there was anything out there that would spot us. I looked in the direction in which the zombies were, noticing them still fight over who got the pieces of the organ (though it was clear they were almost finished). Not wanting to waste anymore time, I slipped out of the room with Drake holding my wrist before shutting the door behind me. I motioned for Drake to be as silent as he could so as to not alert the demons feasting on their dinner, to which he simply nodded once. With that, we pushed our way through the nearby brush and began making our way to Diamond Beach, which was about a mile from our home. After taking another quick look around the area, I decided on the option I figured was the best to avoid any walkers from catching us: run.

Tugging Drake along with me, we began sprinting our way down to the beach, both of us looking around and making sure there was nothing following us or chasing us. The wound on my side started to hurt, and I quickly placed my free hand against it. The blood had dripped down to my shorts, staining nearly the entire side with blood but was too dark to even notice that much. I told myself in the back of my mind that when we reached the beach, I would take a break to use another one of my bandages to wrap up the wound for the time being before continuing our way to the Pool House in the Golden Beach area. However, my main priority was to keep an eye out from creatures roaming about and keeping Drake safe from harm. It was bad enough that I had lost three out of four most important people in my life, and to lose the fourth one would be the end of the world, my world, as I knew it. He was the last thing I had left of my sanity, the last hope I had to keep pushing forward in my life, even if my life was slowly but surely ticking away with every passing minute that went by.

Before I knew it, the sight of the waves crashing against the beach came into view, giving me a sign of relief. However, my guard did not falter as I knew that, at any moment, a zombie could come out and attack either of us without so much as a single bat of the eye. Running up to the water's edge, I sighed before falling to my knees. The salt water, immediately crashed against them, cleaning off whatever blood I had on meand flinching as some of the salt water started to burn my wound. The cold feeling swept over me, as if it were trying to cleanse the memories of today and replacing them with ones of peace and happiness. Unfortunately, due to the distant sounds of moaning and groaning, it was rather difficult to picture those days again.

After a moment, I looked back down at the water, watching as some of the blood smeared off my skin, reveal the caramel color once more. Seeing a moment of opportunity to get at least moderately clean from today, I waited for the water to come back to me before cleaning my legs, arms (avoiding the bandage, of course), and face of the blood. Drake, without having to question me, quickly mirrored my actions even though there was a little less blood on him than there was on me. Every once in a while, I would pause to look around and see if anyone – or anything – was nearby before returning to cleaning myself off. Being alone on a beach was scarier than being inside, since one could not tell if something was standing behind her or watching from a distance. Then again, being alone in a building with those things could have been worse, as it was in an enclosed space with nowhere to go. Still, the demons being there was scary enough.

After rinsing off most of the blood from myself and my machete, I got to my feet and moved far enough away from the water to avoid getting wet again. Then, I removed the shoulder backpack and set it on the floor. It was then that I noticed it had some blood on it from everything that had happened, but I chose to worry about that…well, never. Opening the bag, I pulled some bandages for the wound on my side, not wanting to leave it open to any more infections. Taking off my bloodied tank top completely and placing it on my lap, I quickly began wrapping the white cloth material around me, watching as the blood seeped through with ease. Unfortunately, due to the fact that I had left it open for so long, I started to become lightheaded from the blood loss. Waiting this long was starting to take its toll on me, and would most likely cause me to pass out. Or worse than that, die. That only gave me another reason to keep going; to get Drake out of here and to safety before I was unable to control myself.

After I finished wrapping the bandages around my waist and abdomen, I grabbed my tank top once more, grimacing at the blood stains that now marred its pure color, before slipping it back on. I zipped up the bag up once more and put it back on as I got to my feet, taking hold of the machete once more. Turning around, I noticed Drake standing at the water's edge, looking out at the water. A breeze brushed over us as I made my way over to him. When I stopped to stand next to him, I noticed his expression; it was blank, but at the same time gave me a sign that he was deep in thought about something. It was something I would not find out unless he told me, but seeing him stand there the way he was made me worry as to what he was going to say next. And worry me his words did.

"Abbey," he muttered. "We're never gonna be able to get our lives back," He looked at me, "...are we?"

I stared at him for a long moment, staring into his mismatched eyes, before placing a hand on his head and pulling him close. There was no beating around the bush with him, and lying was something I hated to do. So, the only other option was to answer truthfully.

"No, Drake," I responded. "We will never get our life back." I looked out at the sea once again. "From this point on, our lives will never be the same…"

From that point on, my life – our lives – would begin its slow decent into Hell; a decent into a never ending insanity.


	7. The Trek to Safety

**_Twenty Minutes Later…_**

The walk from the Diamond Beach to the Golden Beach took much longer than I had previously anticipated, seeing as how we were watching for any zombies that may have appeared a lot more than we were moving. There were a few that we spotted, but they were too far to notice us, which was very fortunate for us and allowed us to do our best to not attract their attention. Still, the rising tension of being spotted by ourselves, vulnerable to any creature that considered us a meal, made matters that much worse. There was not a single moment when I was not looking over my shoulder to see if anything was there, following us at a slow yet relentless pace, while Drake remained close to me and kept an eye forward and to the sides. His arms wrapped around my waist while his scanned every single crevice he could find, hoping that a zombie would not pop out and chase us down like the classic cartoon – the one with the cat and the mouse; I cannot remember the name at the moment. Nevertheless, we continued to make our way to the Pool House, hoping the survivors were still there. The last thing we wanted was to find a group of zombies attacking said location and jeopardizing the lives of the innocent. Just the mere thought of it sent a shiver down my spine. If they reached the Pool House, who knew how long it would take before they broke through the doors and killed everyone inside? And if that happened, there would be nowhere else for us to go that we knew of at the time. We had abandoned our home, left them to the fucking demons, trekked all the way to Pool House on foot, only to find that it was overrun by the same creatures that tried to overrun our home. It frightened me, but I kept a calm demeanor so as to not alert Drake.

After a few minutes, I suddenly began coughing violently, but it was only for a brief moment. Drake looked up at me rather quickly, and out of the corner of my eye I could see a hint of fear and worry in them.

"Are you feeling okay, Abbey?" He questioned, his voice matching his expression. "You don't look so good."

I sent him a reassuring smile.

"Yeah. I'll be alright."

"But you're starting to look really pale."

As he said those words, a wave of dizziness came over me, causing me to fall forward a bit. Drake did his best to keep me from falling over and onto the ground, and fortunately it worked. After taking a moment to regain my balance, I sighed before looking at him again.

"I'll be…alright…" I muttered. "We just need to…to focus on getting to the…to the Pool House as soon as we can."

"But…but we can't go if you're disoriented like this," he explained. "At least take a seat for a moment. Rest a little."

I shook my head slowly so as to not make myself dizzy again.

"No, I can't sit down. Not out in the open like this. Not with those things wandering about."

Drake pouted a bit.

"Then sit on the floor at least. I don't have the strength to carry you all the way there, you know…"

Complying with that simple and much desired request from my worried brother, I shrugged absently and slowly sat down on the ground, taking a moment to lessen the dizziness from the blood loss, or worse the infection. I looked out at the water once more for a long moment; staring at its ethereal beauty just like I had done when I was so young. It reminded me of the days when I went outside just so I could stand at the water's edge, staring out at the water and enjoying the place I once called Paradise; _my _Paradise. To know that all of this was happening made me want to go back to the days when life was actually good, amazing actually. Not just for myself, but for everyone on the island. True, there were some illegal issues here and there, but it did not change a thing about Banoi. People still flocked from all over the globe – The globe! – to come here, to come to Paradise and escape their lives. As for me, I never wanted to leave this sanctuary of mine to explore the world as other friends wanted. This _was_ my home; everything I could ever ask for was right here. The world was a place that needed peace, not the newest fad on the line, and Banoi was the place to be in order to find that peace. Then again, that is just me boasting about how great an island Banoi is in general, seeing as how I had been living here for twenty-five years. It is hard not to say good things about it.

Blinking once, I scanned the area briefly in search of any wandering demons before slowly looking back at Drake, who had sat down next to me and kept a close eye on me while keeping his sense of hearing elsewhere. His mismatched eyes held a look of worry, but his face was calm. He may have known how to hide fear on the outside based on his facial expressions and his body posture, but it was hard to hide on the inside. Deep down, I knew he was still the scared young boy that was my little brother. He was scared that the worse-case scenario would come to reality. Smiling with assurance, I place my hand atop his head comfortingly. Even though I had very little time to spend with him, I did not want him to worry as much as he was right now. For the time being, I was his older sister, someone he respected and looked up to, and that was how I wanted him to remember me. I wanted him to remember all of the good times we had together and know that I will be going to a better place – wherever that better place is - not some mindless animal trying to eat his face off. Better to think of the good times we shared than bad during the last moments of life. That was how I saw it, anyway.

After another moment of silence, I used my machete to slowly return to my feet again, hoping that my balance would be at least back with me. Drake had followed suit, but made sure that I would be able to stand on my own without any real assistance. When I knew I would be safe to walk, I nodded toward him before we continued our trek to the Pool House. To be safe, he kept an arm around my waist, since he was tall enough to do so, and walked at a slow pace – it was in-between keeping my balance and out of caution. I could tell he wanted to be safe when it came to keeping me up, but it was a bit much. Still, I had no complaints; as long as there was nothing around that would harm us, it did not matter to me. When he did that, though, something in my mind sparked. Memories of Nathan began to flood my mind, bringing me to a day that was different than this. It made me want to smile; it made me want to cry. Either way, I could feel the emotions welling up inside of me. Seeing as how everything was falling apart around us with every passing second, it made me upset just thinking about it all. It made me realize just how great those times were. Granted, I was able to cherish many of those moments, but others did not get the attention it needed, the attention it deserved. Glancing out at the waters again, something about it picked a memory that remembered vividly in my head, even after several years. After thinking long and hard about why it seemed so familiar, it hit me.

This was the place where I first met Nathan nine years ago; back when I was still in high school.

* * *

_I yawned lazily as I trekked along the Diamond Beach and toward the Golden, picking up any seashells that I found interesting to me. It was not every day that I went out looking for seashells the way I was; I was asked to go by a couple of friends. Apparently, they wanted me to help them with their project about the ocean and believed putting seashells in it will make it look more "stylish." It was something for their environmental science class, and I was dragged along with them. Despite telling them that I had homework to do for psychology, they insisted I should go with them and find the perfect spot to look for shells. My parents did not mind at all, much to my dismay, as they knew I would be near home anyway. Even they had some trouble understanding the hints I was trying to give them: pleading looks, mentioning of homework, my non-involvement with the class to begin with. However, they claimed it was a great way to "get outside more" and "enjoy the outdoors with friends." The thought made me pout a bit; I was outside nearly every single day of my life. And to think that they were supposed to be my parents._

_Noticing another shell near my feet, I bent down to pick it up, observing it closely to see what kind it was and if it was something that I was looking for. It was a hermit crab shell with a sandy beach color to it, with reds, yellows, and oranges blended together in one picture – or in this case, shell. Unfortunately, it was not enough despite its beauty. Frowning, I glanced over it once more before tossing it nonchalantly. They said they wanted something with "pizzazz," and the one I picked up was nothing near their standards. It was difficult to find the right kind of shell for them, as they worked extremely hard to make their protects picture perfect as if it came straight out of a movie, but even I knew how much was a little too much. The best ones I found, after a little too much trial and error, were not even in this location at all, but somewhere up north. However, it was not my position to judge where they wanted to look, so I kept my mouth shut. Better to let them go through what I went through until they figured it out._

_"UGH!"_

_I looked over my shoulder toward one friend of mine – Martha Roberts – who was sitting on the sand. A pout appeared on her full, pink colored lips while she looked out at the see with deep set brown eyes. Her skin was dark, darker than the natural caramel color that was my skin, but would eventually become darker if she sat out in the sun so much. Her light green shorts were covered with sand, while her yellow t-shirt billowed against the breeze. Her medium sized feet were bare and had sand stuck to it, giving me the impression that she had stepped into the water at some point in order to look for shells; her medium sized hands, also, had sand on them, telling me that she also stuck her hands in the water in search of the shells._

_"This is hopeless!" She cried out, scrunching up her duchess shaped nose unconsciously. "There's nothing good here!"_

_A smile formed on my lips as I made my way over to her, carrying my orange sandals in my hand._

_"Would you like to look somewhere else?" I suggested, scratching my celestial shaped nose and pushing away my dark hair from my face. "I'm pretty sure there are other good places to look. It _is _an island, after all."_

_Martha looked up at me._

_"But that's just gonna be too much work to deal with!" She groaned, letting her head fall forward just as her short brown hair fell past her, creating a curtain around her face._

_I raised a thin eyebrow in her direction._

_"I thought you wanted to do a good job on the protect?" I questioned. "I mean, you did drag me here from doing my psych homework just to help you out."_

_"Haven't you noticed that Martha is too lazy to do anything?"_

_I glanced over at a young man – Adam Roberts, Martha's elder brother and twin – approaching us with a handful of shells that he had picked up off the shore. His short brown hair parted to the left side and bounced a bit as he jogged up to us. His eyes – big and brown – looked at me for a moment, smiling at me with a toothy grin, before looking at his twin. He had a bit of stubble on his chin, and was fit – I know this based off his washboard abs against his dark skin. As he approached us, he towered over the both of us at about six foot two inches - just standing next to him made me feel small. His grin was wide, as if he were a young boy instead of the high school senior that stood before me._

_Martha glared up at him._

_"Shut it, Sasquatch!" She scolded him teasingly, earning a light glare from her twin. "I'm no good with outdoorsy stuff. I'm the intellect type in our little duo, as you can see."_

_Adam rolled his eyes before setting down some shells next to her._

_"All I see is a lethargic bum sitting on her fat ass," he retorted, grinning wildly as if he knew what buttons to push. This only caused her to flip._

_"FAT ASS?! LOOK WHO'S TALKING!" She exclaimed. Shaking my head, I turned away in order to look for more shells. "YOU'RE SO FAT, YOU COULD BE RELATED TO WHALES!"_

_"I am related to a whale, and its name is Martha."_

_"I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU FOR SAYING THAT, YOU LITTLE SHIT!"_

_I laughed but chose against looking over my shoulder at the twins. I knew that Adam was the one person who knew how to push Martha's buttons; he did it out of love…and to see his sister lose her mind. Unlike Adam's comments, Martha was actually skinny, skinnier than me actually. She never did sports at all, never trained for anything in her life, yet she was thin and fit. Her secret: she was a hardcore vegetarian. She had not eaten a single piece of meat since she was six years old. It was not just because she wanted to keep herself from eating animals, but because she "wanted to lose weight." I told her that if she lost anymore weight by eating nothing but lettuce, she would turn anorexic. Fortunately, she did have her off days, but that was only once a year when she would eat meat and be a hypocritical for at least one day in the year. That, and because she needed some protein in her diet – as if protein shakes were not enough of a replacement. Still, Adam seemed to enjoy pointing out that his sister was fat when in reality she was not even close to it. The reason behind it all was beyond my knowledge, but it made me wonder sometimes afterwards._

_Scanning around a little bit, I prayed that something – anything – would appear so that I could give them something and head home. My psychology homework was not going to do itself, thus needed my attention and assistance to get done. However, before I could give up my long search, I suddenly spotted something near the water's edge, something that had a bit of a glimmer to it. Curious as to what it was, I unconsciously started to make my way over to mysterious object, hoping the sea water would not swipe it away like that stupid fox from the TV show I was forced to watch during my Spanish class in seventh grade – I believe it was Dora the Explorer or something like that. Maybe it was seashell for Adam and Martha's project, since the shells that Adam brought were not exactly what Martha wanted – I looked over them before leaving the quarreling duo. Then again, maybe it was something that I could take home. Better to have some sort of reward for being out here when I should have been inside doing homework that was to be due tomorrow morning. The things I did for friendship was a pain in the ass sometimes._

_As I approached it, though, I soon came to realize that it was not exactly the seashell that I worked tirelessly to find for the twins. Instead, it was something else entirely, something that shined much brighter than a shell. My curiosity grew even more with every step I took, wanting to know just what it was. When I was close enough to it, I stopped before bending over to pick it up. It was small, small enough for only my index finger and thumb to pick it off the ground. After closely examining it without the sunlight, I realized that it was, indeed something entirely different than what I had previously expected. Instead of it being a shell, it was a ring. I was certain it may have been an engagement ring for someone. I knew that much after looking at my mother's on more than one occasion. Unfortunately, it made me worry about who it belonged to, seeing as how any happy couple would be frantically looking for it. Worried, I looked around, hoping to find anyone that may have appeared to be searching for something valuable. I was unable to find them after a few minutes of scanning; however, the people – actually, the person – had found me instead._

_"Hey!"_

_Blinking, I looked forward to find someone approaching me quickly and almost frantically. I found a boy – probably a few years older than myself; about eighteen or nineteen – running up to me with nothing but a pair of black and white swim shorts. His skin was a light shade, as if he had never been out in the sun at all, and he almost stuck out like a sore thumb. His hair – a sandy blonde shade – was cut short and neat. It was the only thing that made him appear more like an islander like myself. His big blue eyes, from what I could see, gave him an almost childlike innocence to his face. His body was thin, but not enough to consider him anorexic. Instead, he was well fit even though he did not have any washboard abs like Adam – in fact, he did not have any abs at all. His swim shorts stopped just at his knees, and I immediately knew that he was no ordinary person, but a tourist coming to visit the island just like the other thousand people that I spotted near the beaches at around three in the afternoon._

_Remaining in my spot, I waited until he had come up to me before speaking to him. When he did, he slowed down before bending over in order to catch his breath. He tried to speak, but then held up a finger telling me to give him a moment to regain his breath. I could not help but smile at him, finding it funny that he was so out of breath so quickly. Then again, I was unsure as to how long he had been running along the beach for._

_"Looks like you've had your exercise for the day, my friend," I said, giggling a bit. "If you tire out this quickly, then someone needs to head to the gym."_

_Instead of appearing or sounding offended, he laughed along with me as he stood up straight; he was taller than me by several inches._

_"As a matter of fact, I have been going to the gym," he said with a grin. "I never used to look like this. I used to look like a big 'blob of crap,' or so my friends used to tell me in the nicest ways possible."_

_I shook my head, keeping my smile on my face._

_"They don't sound like very good friends if they are that honest about your weight."_

_He shrugged and said, "They were more my motivators than actual friends sometimes. But hey!" He flexed his arms in a mock fashion and grinned triumphantly. "I'm starting to get that god-like physique that every guy would kill to have!"_

_This time, I laughed out loud, finding it humorous that he saw himself getting closer to such a desired ideal. Whether he was convinced he would become that way by his friends or by talking to way too many women and getting their opinions of what they liked to see in men, his mind was set to this odd goal. Frankly, I was not there to judge him. It was his choice that he chose to lose any weight that he may have had before today._

_"You tourists are so funny!" I told him, calming down a little to speak again. "Worrying more about your physical appearances than living life like you should!"_

_He raised an eyebrow curiously, but not in a manner in which he was offended in any way. I could tell by his smile that lingered on his face._

_"You talk as if I'm a different species."_

_Once I stopped laughing, I shrugged absently._

_"Well, I've been living on this island for sixteen years so far. The tourists, to me, are kind of like a different species to me." I raised one hand. "Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against you or any other tourist. I just find it funny sometimes that so many people are so brainwashed."_

_He tilted his head curiously._

_"Brainwashed?"_

_"That's what I call it." I explained it. "I've noticed a lot of people becoming so infatuated with being 'in with the crowd' and listening to what other people tell them is right and wrong or what they should look like to become like everyone else. I call it brainwashing because people are so willing to listen in order to be normal." He smiled at my words; it was clear that he was very intrigued by what I was saying. "I'm guessing that's why so many people, like you, come to places like Banoi. To get away from normality and just be themselves without anyone ever having to judge them."_

_"Wow…" He muttered. "I never thought of it that way."_

_I looked out at the water's edge before asking, "Is that why you're here? To escape normality?"_

_"You could say that." He stated, his eyes never leaving mine. "I wanted to get away from my life in general; you know, overbearing bosses, constant nagging from friends and family, all that junk." I looked at him, looking into his blue hues. "I guess I didn't want any of that. So I came out here with the few friends that didn't bother me so much, and decided I needed a bit of rest and relaxation."_

_"Or a bit of pampering," I added._

_He laughed._

_"Yeah, maybe a little bit of pampering, too!"_

_We both enjoyed a good laugh for a good thirty seconds or so. It was odd, really, to be laughing as much as I did that day. I never really spoke to any of the locals unless they needed help looking for a specific location on the island. It was the first time I had a good conversation with a tourist and actually enjoy it. Not many tourists spoke to any natives unless they really needed to. It did not matter to me, since it was none of my business to begin with to make friends. I usually let people come to me first, but whenever I tried to strike up a conversation, they would either nod or say very little words to me before leaving. It was a small act of kindness that I wanted to do, to make them feel welcomed, but it was their decision to accept the invitation or let it go. This guy was one of the few who chose to accept it. I was not used to having any sort of conversation continued by any tourist, and it made me feel happy to know that there were some people that were nice enough to talk with. However, he was different in some strange way. I was unable to decipher what it was exactly, but I hoped to find out soon. Or at least some day in the future._

_Looking down a bit, I realized that I was still holding onto the ring in which he may have come looking for. Glancing at him quickly, I handed the tiny object to him._

_"I believe this is yours," I said, "am I right?"_

_Snapping back to reality, he looked down and spotted the ring in my hand, to which his smile grew more._

_"Oh, thank God! I'm so glad you found it!" He exclaimed happily, taking the ring and examining it. "I must have dropped it while passing by here, but when I went searching for it, it was gone."_

_"Was it in your pocket?" I questioned. When he nodded, I went on to say, "Then there must be a hole in it. Rings don't fall out unless there is a whole in your pocket, or you took it out yourself and dropped it._

_He looked at me for a moment, staring into my eyes._

_"Thank you. This is my mother's engagement ring. She gave it to me and told me that I should give to the one person I knew I would be with for the rest of my life."_

_My smile grew._

_"Well, with your humorous ways, I'm sure she'll come around." I said to him. "Just be careful, though. Not all women are what they seem."_

_"I'm guessing you know from experience?"_

_I nodded._

_"That I do, my friend. Plus, I'm trying to major in psychology when I graduate, so I've gotta know these little things."_

_He looked over his shoulder briefly, as if he heard his name from a distance._

_"I guess I should be heading back, now. My friends are probably wondering where I ran off to," he said. He looked back at me. "Again, thank you so much for finding this…um…" He chuckled. "I'm sorry; I never got your name…"_

_I giggled._

_"You're very welcome." I responded to his gratitude. "And it's Abigail. Abigail Mason."_

_"Abigail…such a nice name," he commented._

_"Well, thank you…um…" I trailed off before laughing lightly. "It seems you never told me your name either, Mr. God-Like Physique."_

_He laughed in response._

_"Lovely little nickname, but you can call me Nathan. Nathan Rodgers."_

_I nodded, engraving his name, face, and eyes into my mind._

_"It was very nice to meet you." I paused for a moment as he turned away, but something told me to keep speaking. "Hey! Nathan!" He stopped and looked at me. "How long are you staying here? In Banoi?"_

_"Just flew in yesterday. Won't be leaving until next Friday." That was only a week from now; interesting. "Why do you ask?"_

_I looked away for a moment, feeling a small blush rise on my cheeks._

_"Well, I was wondering…" I started before looking back at him. "I was wondering if you wanted to do something later tonight. Since you're staying for the rest of the week, I figured I could show you around." I grinned. "Think of it as a 'Welcome to the island' present."_

_He stared at me for a moment before his signature smile returned to his face._

_"Yeah. That sounds like fun." He said. "I could bring my friends, too. If that's okay?"_

_"Of course!" I responded. "And I'll bring a couple of mine! The more the merrier, I say!" He laughed once again; I was starting to grow accustomed to his laughter, as if I were enjoying it. "We'll meet up right here! I'd call or text you, but I didn't exactly bring anything to write my number down."_

_"No worries," he said with a grin. "I'll get after tonight."_

_With that, he waved a small good-bye before making his way back to his friends, while I watched him silently. I had a feeling that tonight was not going to be the last night I would see him. I knew deep down that what we had was friendship, a friendship I did not think would last, since he was going to leave. I did not know that eventually he would return every few months not to enjoy a nice vacation, but to see me and other friends he made here. What we were, I hoped, was going to be something worth keeping._

_"Abbey!" I heard my name being called, but as I turned my head, everything disappeared. Eventually, I found myself closing my eyes as if I were blinking. Unfortunately, that simple motion brought me back to reality, a reality I wanted to avoid._

* * *

"Abbey!"

Opening my eyes once again, I found myself still staring out at sea, but not moving anywhere. Confused, I looked down at Drake, who had a look of horror on his face.

"What is it?" I questioned anxiously.

Without a word, he fearfully pointed forward, giving me the chance to notice his visibly shaking. Blinking again, I followed his arm and looked ahead, only to be just as horrorstruck as he was. We had finally reached the Pool House, but my worse fear had come to pass. Multiple zombies found their way to the same location, one of them standing at the door and slamming their hands against it. The rest of them were on the beach itself, moving toward something that I could not see at the moment. Squinting my eyes, I tried to looked around and see if I knew any one that may have needed help. Just as I did that, I watched as one of the creatures suddenly collapsed to the ground, blood pooling from its neck and becoming motionless. I heard Drake gasp and pull me closer, inflicting pressure on my side wound and making me wince with pain. Before I had a chance to look down at him, something caught my eye – something very familiar at a distance. Looking around for the second time, I was able to find that familiar thing and recognize just who it was in a matter of seconds. Drake, before I could speak, must have also recognized him, as he moved forward a bit.

"Abbey, that's Sinamoi!" He exclaimed, looking back at me. "H-he needs help!" Immediately, he tried to run over there, as if he were going to fight him, but I quickly grabbed him by the back of his shirt. "Let me go! We've gotta help him!" He exclaimed, struggling against my grip.

"No, _I've_ got to help him!" I told him as I pulled him back toward me. "_You're_ completely defenseless and will only get yourself killed! That's something that I _won't_ allow!" He wanted to say something, but kept his mouth shut. "What I need you to do is hide. Hide in a place where they can't find you. If and only if one of them does see you, run to the door of the Pool House. But _only_ when you need to or when the time is right."

"I can't let you fight those things by yourself! You'll die!" I cringed at his words, but kept a strong demeanor. "I can't lose my sister!"

"You won't have to…not yet…" I muttered, glancing away from him briefly and inhaling before putting on my calm look once more. "Now hide in the brush and stay put until it's safe to come out. _Go_!"

Without another word, he immediately took off in the direction in which there were a few bushes nearby; they were big enough to hide him from plain sight, but for how long I did not know. After watching him for a moment, I quickly turned my attention to helping Sinamoi, gripping my weapon tightly, before sprinting into his direction. Despite the fact that another one of my worst fears – the creatures reaching the Pool House – had become a reality once again, it did not mean I had to leave them there to die, especially not Sinamoi. He was one of the only few things I had that reminded me of Nathan and my home, and that was something I did not want to lose. Looking over at the door of the Pool House, I noticed the creature had turned its head, looked at me for a split second, before slowly turning around. It was as if he were trying to reach me even though he was at a distance from me. Choosing to ignore him, I slowed my pace as I watched Sinamoi fend off one of the creatures; he, too, held a machete of his own, but was covered in more blood than my own.

"Sinamoi!" I called out to him, though I thought it was a bad move. In seconds, the creatures that were closest to me turned simultaneously, looking me down just like the others had done before them. "Shit…" I murmured as they began walking toward me. Their bodies were mangled and covered in either their own or someone else's blood; I just did not know anymore. One of them was a young woman – around my age, which only made me tense a bit – with one of her breasts completely missing from her body, while blood poured from the massive wound and revealed some of her organs as well. The other two were men; the first tilted more to one side and pieces of his arm, torso, and legs were gone from their original places, while the second had a missing side similar to my own wound only his was missing more skin and bled out more profusely. Both were nearly caked in blood and sauntered over to me as if they were hunting me down.

Repressing the fear that nearly took over, I instinctively made the first move by attacking the one closest to me; the first man of the two. Swinging my machete toward it, I was able to land a diagonal blow on its chest, causing it to lurch back a little and pause briefly as if to examine the wound that had been inflicted on it. After I did that, the woman charged at me, but failed to get a hold of me as I sidestepped out of harm's way. Worrying more for Sinamoi's safety, I quickly looked over at him as he tried to fend off five of those things. Knowing that he would never be able to handle it for very long, I quickly ran over to aid him. Approaching the first one I saw, I brought my machete down on the back of its head, watching as the blade went right into his skull and brain before kicking him off to the side, holding in the contents of my stomach and some of the brain matter slipped out and poured onto the ground. As I did that, Sinamoi pushed one of the demons off him and looked over at me, a sense of relief overtaking him.

"You're alive, I see!" He said, looking back before hacking and slashing the creature that attacked him until it was dead. "I wasn't sure if you'd make it here."

"Believe me, Sinamoi," I responded, taking a swing at a female zombie and slitting her throat cleanly. "I'm still not sure if I'm gonna make it."

He looked at me as I kicked the female zombie to the ground, allowing it to bleed to death for a moment.

"What happened?" He asked, moving out of the way of one of the creatures that tried to land a hit on him.

"My parents are dead, that's what happened!" I shouted as another creature tried to grab me, but I was able to punch it in the face hard enough to snap its neck. "Two of these things got inside and killed them before I got there. I arrived too late!"

For some reason, I could have sworn I heard the doors of the Pool House open up, but I continued to focus more on the creatures than who was opening the damn door.

"What about Drake?" He went on. I looked over at him for a moment and watched as he decapitated another demon before I went back to slashing a second female zombie – the one I saw before.

"Surprisingly, unscathed. Just brought him over here and told him to hide in the brush until it was safe!" I told him. "I'm just hoping he listens to me this time!"

The zombie screeched just before my machete connected to its face, slicing it open before falling forward and onto the ground. Panting, I suddenly felt as if all of my energy had been depleted. The hacking and slashing of these things was much more tiring than running from the hotel all the way to my own bungalow, since I was just using brute strength to take them on. Fighting off those things were a lot harder than they were portrayed in those dumb old zombie movies – thanks to Nathan for making me watch too many of them. I felt like I needed to rest for just a moment, get my energy back, but when there was a horde of flesh eating demons surrounding me, there was no time to rest until they were all gone from sight. Sighing more out of frustration, I tried to stand up straight, but nearly shrieked as I heard something snap and groan from behind me. Turning around rapidly, I pointed my blade forward, nearly stabbing the person in front of me out of a fit of fear and self-defense.

Wait…_Person?_

Blinking, I took a moment calm myself as I found myself staring up into a rather familiar pair of eyes once again. Only this time, I was more relieved than actually surprised.

"Logan!" I exclaimed, lowering my blade slightly. I looked around for a second, noticing that there were three other people finishing off the last zombie before looking back at him. "You're…you're okay!"

He smiled, gripping his battered paddle as if he were still tense.

"I could say the same for you, but you look like you've been through Hell and back." He said to me.

Shaking my head, I lowered my blade to my side.

"You don't know...the half of it." I explained as I walked passed him.

Instantly, my eyes were on the creatures that lied on the ground. The others – I assumed Logan as well – were doing the same thing. After what seemed like forever, I looked forward again, noticing that Logan had passed me and looked in a direction that was not mine. Following it, I looked over to find that he was looking in Sinamoi's direction. When he was done, he looked up at us, paying more attention to me (and the wounds I had sustained).

"Everyone okay?" He asked, looking around at the others.

I rubbed my eyes lazily before looking back at him, head tilted to the side.

"I think...for the most part," I said through tired breaths, "we're all going to be-"

My sentence was cut short by something grabbing my shoulder and my neck, a loud groaning or shriek, and pain shooting straight into my neck. It was so close to hitting a major artery that I accidentally jumped and dropped my machete before screaming bloody murder. Out of my peripheral vision, I realized it was one of the undead sinking its teeth into me – the third one in just one day. Why the _fuck_ was this happening to me?!

"AHHH! GET THIS GODDAMN FUCKER OFF ME!" I shrieked, taking hold of its hands and trying to pry it off me frantically.

In a matter of seconds, something had clasped my arm and tugged as hard as he or she could, causing the undead hand on my shoulder to loosen just enough for me to pull it off. Before it had the chance to return it, I clenched my fist tightly and swung my fist into the creatures face as hard as I could. Doing so not only released the grasp on my arm – the one that was trying to help me, but I was also able to knock the creature off me and back away. Pain continued to course through me as I felt a piece of my skin tear off in the process. Turning around, I stared at it just as my hand fell my bleeding shoulder, noticing the small piece of flesh clenched into its teeth before swallowing it. I gasped with horror and paled just as the same hand took hold of my arm again and pulled me back. Just seconds after the person did that, something flew past my face and toward the creature. Looking at it once more, I realized that it was a machete – Sinamoi's to be precise – that had been thrown. Fortunately, it had embedded itself into its head, killing it instantly as it fell to the ground lifelessly and without a single sound to escape from it.

Other than the sound of my frantic panting and the crashing waves of the ocean nearby, it grew quiet once more. Unconsciously, I placed my other hand – the one free of oozing blood – and placed it on the hand that had assisted in saving my life. It was then that I realized I was shaking violently not just because of the blood I was losing but out of pure terror. As I did that, I looked over my shoulder before looking up slightly, only to find that it was Logan who had pulled me out of getting a machete to the head. Unable to speak out of both fear and lightheadedness from the blood loss, I could only give him a weakened smile as a sign of gratitude. Suddenly, as I did that, the lightheadedness started to take its toll on my body, causing my legs to give way all too suddenly. Fortunately, Logan happened to be there to keep me, using the arm that held me to wrap around my shoulders and lower me to the ground.

"Abigail!" I heard Sinamoi's voice call me, but it was starting to sound faded. I knew I was going to black out, or worse turn into one of them.

"Hey, don't go givin' up on us over a small bite wound like that!" I heard Logan tell me. I wanted to make a remark, but did not have the strength to do it.

"That's not the only wound she's got," I heard the voice of an Australian accented woman, but could not look up at her to see what she looked like. "She's got at least two more – one one her arm and abdomen."

"Man, fuck her then!" I heard another voice, who sounded a lot like someone from the ghetto – for lack of a better term. "If she's been bitten by those motherfuckers already, she's gonna turn into one of them, too!"

"No, she's not!" I heard Sinamoi say, almost as if he were in denial. "She's stronger than that. We may still have a chance to save her." By then, my eyes were starting to close and I could feel my head leaning into Logan's chest. Oddly enough, it felt _way_ too comfortable.

"Then we have to get her to the doctor!" The voice of an Asian woman spoke. "Hopefully, he can help her."

"Yeah, help her and get her back to her little brother." Responded Logan. "Surprised he even made it here at all."

I wanted to smile, but instead closed my eyes completely. _So_, I thought, _you did go against my words, huh, Drake?_ With that, I slowly slipped into unconsciousness as I felt myself being lifted off the ground. The only thing that ran through my mind was that things were starting to calm down…_for now_.


	8. The Lifeguard Tower

_**Three Hours Later...**_

"Damn it, she's still not waking up. It's been three bloody hours now. What the Hell are we gonna do?"

"What do you expect me to do, man? These people are gonna start freakin' the fuck out if she doesn't come to soon."

"I'm not a miracle worker here. Sinamoi keeps telling us she's gonna pull through, that the voice on the radio said she would be fine, but with those bite marks...I'm thinking otherwise."

"What do you want me to tell these people? That we're trying to save the life of one of those fuckers out there? That's she not gonna pull through and eventually start killing everyone?" A pause. "What do you want me to tell the kid, huh? That his sister is already gone and there's nothing else we can do to help her? He's got nothing left if she turns now!"

"I told you, I'm not a miracle worker! I can't save everyone! The least we can do for everyone's sake is-"

_**Oooohhhh...**_

The talking immediately ceased as I felt myself coming back to the world once again. My head was aching and throbbing with pain along with the rest of my body, and it was as if I could barely move anything at all. The voices that were speaking were unfamiliar to me; it did not sound like Sinamoi, it did not sound like Drake, and it certainly did not sound like Logan or the others that were with him before I passed out. It was someone else, two people conversing about what I believed was me. No surprise there, actually. Still, the fact that they were talking about me turning into one of those things worried me. However, as I came to that conclusion, something can to fruition in my mind. Why was I not turning into one of them by now? I was not sure as to how much time had passed by since I had blacked out from the loss of blood, but I was sure I was gonna die or change eventually. That being the case, why was I coming to now? Then, something else came to mind. Looking back through the conversation, I remembered the first guy mentioning a "voice on the radio" claiming that I would be alright. Who was the voice on the radio, and how exactly did he know who I was? Did he have something to do with all of this shit, or was he trying to get us off the island and back to safety? _Well, I'm not gonna find out these answers on my own, I told myself, especially when I'm lying here like a potato..._

Mentally nodding to myself, I struggled to open my eyes and move around a little, only to groan with pain again. Oddly enough, I could sense the tension and the fear rising with every passing second that I tried to move an arm and a leg or open my eyes. The silence said it all, and was enough to scare even me. Ignoring them for now, I continued to try and open my eyes, only to open one of them at a painstakingly slow rate. Everything around me appeared really blurry, and it felt like I was trying to pry open a metal door with my own two hands but failing. Still, with a little bit more energy coming to me, I was able to open the other one. They may not have been fully open, but it was better than nothing at all. After a moment, I blinked once, twice, thrice, before regaining my vision again. I stared at the ceiling for a good minute, wondering where it was that I was at. I knew that it was no longer the Pool House anymore – I knew what that place was like – and realized it was somewhere else , just as I realized that we were no longer there, my eyes shot open wide as another realization came to slap me across the face rather hard. It was enough to fill me up with Where's Drake? Where the fuck was Drake?!

Completely forgetting about my injuries in that instant, I quickly tried to sit up and look about the room to look for him, to know that he was alright. The second I did that, though, turned out to be an extremely bad move. A shriek filled the room, causing my head to hurt even more so than before, just as I shrieked out of pain and fell back down, hissing and holding onto my stomach wound as it started to burn.

"SHE'S ONE OF THEM!" A woman exclaimed as my eyes shut tightly. "SOMEONE KILL IT!"

"HOLD ON!" I heard someone else, an Australian man to be precise, shout. "Nobody start jumping to conclusions! Alright? Give us a bloody second here!"

Gritting my teeth in pain, I took the opportunity to open my eyes again and actually get a good view of my surroundings. I was sitting in a room and lying on a couch, which sat close to a soda machine with drinks and whatnot. Looking up, I noticed a desk that was unkempt; papers and writing utensils scattered about it as well as a book or two. There was a second room across from the one I was located in and appeared to have a table and a couple of what I presumed was a cabinet shelves and book cases. Blinking, it took me a long moment to actually put the location to a word. When I did, it would have made me sigh with relief as I knew we were safe. We were relocated to the Lifeguard Tower, a place where those things really could not get to us no matter how hard they tried.

"Hey," the Australian voice from before - the one who shouted at the others - spoke, his voice now lower but still held some tension and caution in it. "If you can hear me, give us a sign. Say something or move something. I don't know..."

He muttered that last part as if he was unsure what to ask, but I could tell he was just scared...or what I presumed was fear. Still, I had to show them some sort of sign that I was still alive and not one of the demons outside. Moving my arms, I used them to prop myself up on my elbows, inhaling and exhaling to ignore the pain. My side was starting to hurt a little, but I fought through the pain as I reopened my eyes. This time, I found a group of people standing around me, some at a further distance from than others, but watching me closely nonetheless. It was no surprise, really; I would be doing the same exact thing if someone was in my shoes right now. I looked over all of their faces, as if trying to assure them that I was not one of them at all. Unfortunately, they did not get the message and kept their distance from me. I mentally sighed and looked at the person closest to me. He had dark colored hair, dark colored eyes with glasses, a Hawaiian shirt, and cargo pants. He appeared extremely tense, but remained close by. I looked up at him for a long moment, trying to find my voice and say something. The silence was only making matters worse, and if I did not get my voice back they were probably going to kill me off and move on with their lives. After what seemed like an eternity, I exhaled the breath I was holding in.

"Where's…Drake…?" I spoke, my voice finally returning but sounding hoarse from not using it for what seemed like an eternity. In that instant, the tension dissipated and the breath that everyone was holding was immediately released.

"Oh, thank God…" Muttered the Australian standing near me just as the others left the room. "I actually thought we were gonna lose ya." He kneeled down next to me and checked my arm, which had new bandages on it. "You feelin' alright, mate?"

I shrugged weakly as he went to check the bandages that I realized were on my neck. Judging by how he was observing them closely, I knew this was the doctor that I heard about before passing out back at the Pool House. Fortunately, I could trust him with my life…_literally_.

"I don't know…" I responded, my voice still a bit hoarse but returning slowly. "I feel dizzy, lightheaded, and fucked up in all the wrong places."

He chuckled at my comment; it sounded like he had not done so since all of this started.

"You took quite a beatin' out there." He told me. "I actually thought you weren't gonna make it."

"Believe me. I thought the same exact thing…"

"It's a good thing Sinamoi and that guy from the hotel were there, the others as well," he said as he motioned for me to lie down again. "If it wasn't for them, you would have bled out and died on the spot."

It was when he said those words that I looked at him with a surprised gaze.

"The guy from the hotel…" I said as he looked over that bandages around my waist; some of it ever covered my breasts, but I was too focused on other matters than that. "You're talking about Logan, right?"

He raised an eyebrow; he did not recognize the name.

"I guess so. Never really caught his name by the time he left." He snorted. "Almost bashed his head in thinking he was infected."

"Where is he?" I asked as he finished checking the bandages and lowered my tank top. "Do you know where he went?"

He was silent as I sat up once again, slowly this time so as to not open any wounds.

"Last time I saw him," he started, "he was with Sinamoi, your brother, and the other three survivors who are immune to the infection." My brows furrowed with confusion, which he noticed immediately. "Yeah. Apparently, the five of you are immune to this."

I blinked with confusion clear in my eyes, wondering if he was talking nonsense and was really insane or actually speaking the truth. When he did not laugh in a joking manner, Immune to the infection? Was that even a possibility? How could a person be immune to something that spread so fast? It had to be impossible. No one in the world was ever meant to be immune against a zombie infection; then again, that was the zombie movies talking to me. However, I appeared to be living proof that whatever was turning people into those things had absolutely no effect on my body. I did go turning nor was I on the verge of becoming one of them. The question that first comes to mind: How? How was it possible that I could be immune to all of this? How is it that I could not, no matter how many times I get bite, die and be reborn as a demon from the darkest, coldest pits of Hell? The answer was unable to come to me, and it greatly bothered me. There had to be an answer to this mystery, but what it was was unreachable from my grasp. Hopefully, it would come to me in the coming future, but for the time being, I had other issues to worry about at that particular moment.

Pursing my lips, I slowly moved into a sitting position, hissing at the slight pain that shot through my body. The doctor noticed me trying to move and was there to help.

"Don't move around so much," he told me. "You'll open the wounds."

"I need to find my brother Drake," I responded, slowly getting to my feet while keeping my hand on his shoulder. "I need to let him know that…that I'm alright."

"I'll tell him for you. Don't worry." He assured me. "Moving around isn't good for you."

I looked at him for a long moment before saying, "I have to let him know myself. I hate it when others tell them…because who knows what could happen while you're away."

He looked at me for a long moment, noticing just how serious I was about going to find my brother, before nodding. He said nothing more as he helped me regain my balance. Afterwards, I thanked him with a nod and a smile, then began walking out of the room. Since I knew the Lifeguard Tower from when I first visited the building, it was not difficult to maneuver around the building without a map. In front of me was red door leading into the medical room, but I chose against trying to open it, since the first thing that caught my eye was the dripping blood splatter that was on it. As I entered the next room, my gaze fell to the floor, noticing some blood splatters on the floor and a little on the walls. A few luggages and suitcases were scattered about as well. Fortunately, I knew this place was free from any demons that may have been here before the survivors arrived. Going against bitching about the blood that was still littered about, I continued to move forward, heading toward the garage in order to head upstairs. I still felt a little dizzy from having started moving after so long and my legs still felt sore, but I was able to push through and continue making my way forward. My mind was stuck on trying to find Drake, know that he was just fine and let him know that I was okay as well. Not only that, but oddly I wanted to find Logan as well. There was something I had to tell him, something I never got the chance to do back at the Pool House.

Entering the garage, my hazel eyes caught sight of a red truck. It seemed rather old and had some dirt on the sides of it, but other than that it appeared to be in mint condition. Was this used to relocate the other survivors here? My lips pursed as I slowly made my way down the stairs. My side started to ache with every step, but I was able to fight through that for just a second. After reaching the bottom step, my gaze fell to the hood of the truck, noticing how it was open and someone leaning inside it and looking it over. He appeared to be a mechanic of sorts (maybe a little heavy, but not seriously). He had on a grey cap on his head, an orange muscle shirt, and cargo pants. He appeared to be trying to fix something in the car, but was unable to figure out what exactly the problem was. That, or he knew what it was, but was frustrated over how he could solve it. Feeling compelled to help, I slowly made my way over to him.

"Need some help, buddy?" I spoke, my voice no longer sounding hoarse.

The mechanic turned his head over to me, spotting me and recognizing me immediately.

"Hey, you're that chick that everyone was freakin' out about being infected," he said. He sounded as if he were high of something, but went against stating that out loud.

I shrugged and said, "Yeah. Turns out I'm immune to this shit. Not sure how that's possible, though." I looked back at the car. "Something wrong with this?"

He returned his attention to the car.

"This thing was working just fine when we were getting it here," he started to explain, "but now it just won't turn on."

"Mind if I take a look?" I asked, moving closer to the machine. "I know my way around cars…a little." Shrugging, he moved out of the way and allowed me to take a quick look over. At first it did not seem like anything was wrong with it, but after taking another look, I realized some of the parts had burned out and needed to be replaced. Whoever had this car before the outbreak did not do a very good job at taking car of it. Pursing my lips, I moved back. "It looks like some of these parts burned out and finally took its toll on the way here." I said to him. "It seems like the only explanation."

"That's what I was thinking, but I'm sure as Hell not going out there with those things." He responded.

"Can't say I blame you." I looked at him. "I'd help you get those parts, but seeing as how I'm injured and knowing Sinamoi will act like a father to me, he'd never let me set foot out of here."

"Ya got that right." My head looked over to spot the man himself - Sinamoi. Fortunately, he was accompanied by the familiar and relieved face of Drake, who smiled wide at the sight of me.

"Abbey!" He exclaimed, running down the last few steps before making his way over to me. Maneuvering around the mechanic, I dropped to one knee - careful of my injury - and embraced the younger sibling of mine as if I had not seen him in many years. "I thought the worst would happen to you. No one would let me see you because they were so scared of what you might become."

I grinned as I pulled away from him, ruffling his hair.

"Well, they were wrong to do that," I assured him, "because I seem to be immune to all this."

"Just as the guy on the radio told us," Sinamoi spoke.

I looked up at him just as I returned to my feet; Drake held onto my arm as if he was afraid to let me go again.

"Which reminds me," I spoke, raising an eyebrow out of curiosity just as the mechanic headed inside to get a drink or something, "who i_is_/i the 'guy on the radio,' and how exactly does he know me?"

Sinamoi shrugged and said, "I thought you would have the answer to that. The others certainly don't." His head lowered a bit. "Looks like nobody knows who this guy is."

"But how do we know we can trust this guy?" I asked, placing my hand - the one with the bandage on my forearm - on my hip. "I mean, we know nothing about him, we've never seen his face before, and he's communicating with us through the radio."

He looked at me again and said, "He told us he knew how to get us off the island. Unfortunately, he was telling us to move to his location."

"And where is that?"

He shook his head.

"We lost the damn signal before we were able to find out," he explained. "That's why we moved to the Lifeguard Tower. To move the survivors to a more secure location and for the better radio frequency."

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"I don't like the sound of this," I muttered truthfully, looking back at him. "I don't like how he's telling us to move everyone here to a location we don't know about. How do we know he's not some…lunatic trying to get what little supplies we had."

"I tried to tell him we have sick and wounded here, but I don't think he got the message."

I sighed and leaned against the hood of the car.

"That's just great. Some stranger appears out of nowhere, telling us to relocate without even giving us a chance to find a good enough shelter to be safe from those…those _things_ out there." My eyes narrowed. "Already I don't trust him."

Sinamoi shook his head as he moved over to stand next to me.

"There's not many people we can really trust these days, and some who are more desperate to get out of here than others." He explained. "Like James. He didn't want stick around and wait for help to arrive, so he left with a handfull of others."

I looked at him as I heard those words; honestly, I was not all that surprised to find that he and some of the other survivors left. Staying in one location was not necessarily a good idea, but what choice did we have when people were just too scared to leave out of the fear of dying?

"No surprise there, Sinamoi," I muttered. I paused for a moment as I looked back down at Drake, who was looking outside and staring into space. Then, I glanced back at Sinamoi. "Hey, I heard that there were four other survivors who are immune to…whatever this infection is. Is that true?" He nodded once. "I'm guessing their upstairs, right?"

"Consider it getting to know the only other people who can't turn into bloody animals," he said, which caused me to chuckle at the comment.

"Sounds like something I should join in on." I pushed myself off the hood of the car. "Better to get to know the other people that I'll be working with." Sinamoi frowned at my words; he reminded me of my father when I was about to do something stupid. "_After_ I feel…moderately better...maybe."

With a shake of his head, Sinamoi simply motioned for me to move upstairs. I did so without question, bringing Drake along with me after snapping him out of his trance. We moved up the stairs slowly, not wanting to bother my injuries anymore than I already have. When we made it to the top of the stairs, I was nearly blindsided by the beating hot sun. I had to raise my bandaged arm just to block out most of it. After reaching the top and growing accustomed to the brightness, I continued to make my way to the Lifeguard radio building - I honestly forgot what it was called, so radio building it was - while holding onto Drake. He appeared distracted by something, but I was unsure as to what it was. Knowing him, he was probably trying to go to his "happy place" and forget that all of this was happening. That or something was on his mind and distracting him. Me being the curious sibling, I wanted to know what that was.

"What are you thinking, Drake?" I asked.

He did not flinch when I spoke to him; instead, he simply looked up.

"I have a question," he said, stopping his tracks and pulling me to a halt. Nodding, I allowed him to continue. "It's been bothering me since I saw you, but I never really got around to asking you about it."

I smiled.

"Well, if you asked me now, maybe I could answer it," I told him. I watched him contemplate for a moment, almost as if he were trying to find the right words to say. This only made me laugh lightly. "Drake, it shouldn't be rocket science. Just ask."

He looked back up at me and smiled briefly before it faded.

"You were wearing a thin jacket or sweater when you came to our house." He started. "It belonged to Nathan, I know that much. But what made me wonder is…" He paused for a moment. "Why do you have it now?"

At that moment, my words flew away and I was left speechless for a moment. I had almost forgotten about Nathan and the jacket he told me to hold onto before passing away. When I thought about it, I had nearly forgotten why Nathan wanted me to take the jacket in the first place. It was supposed to be a means of protection against the undead, but it was unable to protect him from the jaws of the once infected Rose. Then again, after looking back, I realized his sleeves were pulled back up to his elbows, which was one of the reasons why he met his untimely end so soon. Unfortunately, I was not sure if the jacket would be able to withstand those things out there and protect me, seeing as how it was thin and it was just a regular old, grey jacket used for the chilly days of the year, not out on a tropical island. Still, it was good to have a memento of the lover I lost all too soon.

Looking back at Drake, a small smile graced my lips as I found my voice once again.

"He told me to hold onto it," I explained. "He said it was going to keep me safe from the zombies."

Similar to what my mind was thinking, Drake raised a confused eyebrow at my words.

"How is a simple jacket gonna protect you from those things out there?" He asked.

I laughed in response to his question before patting his head.

"Believe me, buddy, I was just asking the same exact question to myself." He pouted a little before fixing his hair; he had always hated when I ruffled his hair to make it into a mess. Even though everything around us was going to Hell, he still had time to fix his hair and make himself "look good." It was after a pause that I looked back toward the radio building. "Hey, now I've got a question for you."

"What is it?"

I looked back at him and asked, "You've met the four who are immune, right? The people inside that building?" He nodded a few times. "What's your opinion of them?"

His head lowered a bit, looking for the right words to describe the people I was too meet very soon. It did not take him very long to come up with the words to say, but when he voiced them, it surprised me.

"I don't know."

My eyebrow raised.

"You don't know? How can you not know?" He shrugged. "What's the first word that comes to mind?"

"I don't know…" He looked away. "I'm not really sure what to think of him." He paused as his head lowered. "Though…there's something about…the Texan…"

It took me a moment to realize who he was talking about.

"You mean Logan?" I asked. Drake looked at me oddly at the name; he did not recognize who I was talking about. "The guy you were talking about - the Texan - is Logan Carter."

As I said his full name, his eyes widened to a point where they appeared as if they would pop out of his skull. Clearly, he did not recognize just who he was until I spoke his full name.

"Seriously? _The_ Logan Carter?" Rolling my eyes, I nodded. "Huh…no wonder he looked familiar."

"Yes…that's why…" I murmured, looking out at the ocean. He seemed to notice my sudden change of attitude, and he stared at me. He did this until I could not stand his gaze and chose to look back at him. "What?"

"You sound as if you don't like him," he told him truthfully.

"No, it's not that…I don't like him," I explained, placing my hand on my hip. "It's just that…well…" I sighed, trying to pull together the right words to describe the former NFL star. "He's just…immature. Acting like a child that gets everything he wants with just a snap of the finger. But…" I pursed my lips. "If I'm gonna be working with him in order to survive this Hell, then I'll just have to tolerate him until we get out of here."

Drake frowned.

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing," he told me.

Shaking my head, I sighed and started twisting my braid a little.

"Let's just say…he didn't make a very good first impression when we first met." I explained to him, not wanting to get onto the matter of last night. Sensing this, he said nothing more and simply lowered his head a bit. It was more out of thought than anything else. "Come on, buddy." I placed a hand on his shoulder as I halted my hair twisting. "I've gotta meet the others, and I'm sure you know them by now."

He shrugged, muttering a small "Yeah." before we started our way toward the building. I was not nervous or filled with anxiety about meeting them; it was more anticipation than anything else. It was weird knowing that I was not the only capable of surviving this epidemic, but at the same time reassuring. Had I not known about the others I probably would have felt like a person who immortal; he would never age a day or grow up, but the rest of the world would keep moving forward without him. That was what it would have felt like had I never known, but now that I did I started to feel a little better. At least there were other people who I could relate to in some odd ways, and we could pull through this together. I nibbled on my lower lip. Granted, there may be some problems along the way, problems that do not involve taking a zombie off at the head and watching its blood pool out like a waterfall until it ran dry. There were problems that we would have to face between each other due to their personalities. That, or having become frustrated to the point where we are taking it out on one another. However, as much as I knew that was going to happen, we had to stick together. We had to face any hardships head on and deal with it. The only worry I had was that if we were willing to pull a comrade out of the crossfire when needed - or in this case, a horde of zombies.

Within seconds, Drake and I were standing at the doorway. It did not take me long to open it; knocking was something I just did not feel like doing. They would know it was not some demon breaking down the door. Last time I checked, they did not have enough of a brain (anymore) to open a door without slamming into it. Pushing the distracting thoughts out of my head, I entered the building. Drake stayed close, as if he was starting to become shy, but quickly ran ahead, around the wall, and to the room where the others were. Not bothered by his sudden decision, I remained silent as I shut the door behind me.

"Back from checkin' on your sister, eh?" Blinking, I stopped in my tracks as my head turned toward the familiar voice of Logan. He sounded rather calm, as if everything around him was not falling to pieces. Then again, maybe he was trying to find something to distract him from it all. "That was pretty quick."

"She's awake now, that's why." Came Drake's voice. "She's gonna be alright."

"So the guy from the radio was right," the Australian woman spoke. "She really is immune. Just like the rest of us."

"Yeah, but how the Hell did he know that?" Logan asked. "He some kinda stalker or something?"

"Man, I don't know," spoke the 'ghetto' - lack of a better term unfortunately - man. "But maybe that girl knows something."

It was at that moment that I decided to enter this conversation. Inhaling just for the sake of breathing, I moved one foot in front of the other and walked around the wall, now entering both the room and what they were talking about.

"Sorry, but as much as I'd wanna help," I spoke, grabbing their attention, as I leaned against the wall with my right shoulder, "I don't know anything about that guy on the radio. I'm just as clueless."

That was when I finally got my first glimpse at my new comrades, people who were…well, to put it simply, just like me. It was nothing from what I first expected, but at the same time it was.

The first person who caught my eye was Logan, of course; he was leaning near a desk with his arms crossed. The second person was a dark skinned woman with short dark hair and dark colored eyes. She had a tattoo on each arm - I was unsure as to what the meaning behind them was - and some bracelets (the one on her right forearm was beaded and stopped just under her elbow; while the other held a simple bracelet). Her outfit was a dark purple, sleeveless dress that was a little battered - possibly from everything that has happened - and it was held up by the tying around her neck and silver ring. Around her waist was a black weapons belt, holding unknown contents, and a silver ringed "belt" so to speak just under it. Her dress stopped several inches below her hip and angled downward to stop just above her left knee. This, in turn, revealed a weapon's holster on her right thigh. To finish it off, she wore battered and beaten black boots that fit her long enough to make a quick escape from any infected predators that were to chase her down.

"Good to see you're awake," she said, her Australian accent thick enough to give me the impression she was born and raised there. "That's another worry we'd have to worry a little less about."

I smiled lightly just as Drake made his way over to me.

"I'm a little surprised, though." I spoke as I placed a hand on his head. "Especially after finding out that I can't be turned into those…things out there."

"We all are, kid." My head looked over to find the voice of the "ghetto" man from before. "Bad enough all this shit went down in the first place. Now we gotta be the ones to go out there and face those undead muthafuckas…"

When I looked at him, I immediately recognized him as the one-hit-wonder rapper named Sam B. I had heard he was performing four nights a week at the hotel, but I never realized it until I actually saw him both there and now. He wore a red headband of sorts - I just was not in the mood for describing things that day; I had enough as it was - and a black and gold jacket with some gold bracelets around his wrists. Around his neck was a chain with a giant letter "B," representing his name. On his stomach was a tattoo - although he was leaning against the wall I was on, I could still see the skull, wings, guns, and the words "Timeless Soul." His pants were baggy, low just a little despite the belt, and even had some blood on it along with his red sneakers, but appeared to be in mint condition.

My head lowered a bit at his words before muttering, "Now that you mention it…it does sound like suicide." Shifting my eyes briefly, I looked at him. "But we're doing it to help these people. They won't survive without our help."

"Well, what's the point of that?" Logan spoke. I looked at him. "What do we get out of this?"

"This isn't about what we get out of helping them." I looked over to find a Chinese woman who may have been a desk clerk at the hotel before the outbreak. She had dark colored hair and matching eyes, but she appeared more down to earth and thought more realistically about the whole situation. She had on a white blouse - her left sleeve was torn at the shoulder and it was opened a bit; she even still had her name tag that showed her identity and name: Xian Mei - and a red tie that was a little messy. She had on a skirt with an intricate white design of a flower that reached her knees, but appeared to be a little torn along with her tan stockings. What surprised me the most was that she was still wearing high heels at a time like this. Then again, I could not blame her; I took off in nothing but a tank top, shorts, and sneakers. And many people on the island died in nothing but their swim suits. "It's the fact that we are giving them a little hope." She went on to say to him.

"She's right," I agreed, pushing myself off the wall. "The least we can do for these people is let them know there is help _now_ when they need it the most."

"Yeah, and what about the government?" Logan questioned. "Where the Hell are they when we need them?"

I shrugged as Drake wandered past me, almost as if to hide from the others.

"Honestly, I don't know why the fuck the government is taking their sweet ass time trying to help us get out of here alive," I told him truthfully, "but we just can't sit here and wait until they find it fit to intervene and save our asses. We'll have to find our own way off this island."

"The voice on the radio may know how to get us out of here," said the Australian woman. "He said he wanted us to find him in order to help us."

"But can we really trust him?" Logan asked. "Can we really trust a guy we've never even met?"

"Of course we can't trust him. He's some guy on a radio and, like you said, never even met!" I responded. He looked at me as I sighed and continued. "But…what other choice do we have? Sitting around is only going to get us all killed."

"And going out there is gonna get us killed _faster_," Sam B entered.

I turned my head to look at him, empathizing with his frustration but at the same time wanting him to understand.

"Would you rather leave knowing these people don't have a chance at surviving?" I asked. "Would you rather see them suffer without the help they need and live with that on your conscious?" He remained silent at that, thinking through my words, before shrugging and looking away. Judging by that response, I assumed he was willing to help when needed. At least, that was what I had hoped. "Then its settled. We need to help these people and anyone else we find."

"We ain't miracle workers, Abigail," Logan told me. "We can't go runnin' around helping every person we find."

I looked at him and said, "I know that, but the least we can do is try. Isn't that better than doing nothing at all?"

"Besides," the Australian woman added on, "some may be able to help us find a way forward."

"Another reason we should help them," I said. "Not only that…but I used to live with these people. I know them, and I won't be able to live with myself if I knew I was leaving them behind without doing something for them."

"Maybe that's why you're so eager to help everyone," said Logan.

"Maybe…" I muttered, eyes shifting to the floor before looking back at everyone. "So…we're working together. As a team…right?"

The four of them exchanged glances between one another before answering with their own nod or small "Yeah" to let me know that we were, indeed, working as a team. It was then that I felt Drake tug on my shirt. I looked at him, noticing the small smile on his lips to which I returned immediately. _Looks like there's some hope left in this place after all..._


	9. Into the Unknown

**_Ten Minutes Later..._**

"Absolutely not…"

"Ugh. Come on, Sinamoi, I'm being serious."

"And so am I." My eyes narrowed slightly and a pout spread on my lips. "I'm not gonna let you go out there to get yourself killed."

"Relax, buddy. I can't get infected, remember?"

"Just because you can't get infected doesn't mean they can't skin alive and kill you anyway."

I groaned as if I lost a game before pinching the bridge of my nose. I was becoming more and more frustrated over the fact that Sinamoi refused to let me join the other's in finding the mechanic - Hank, I think his name was - some car parts to fix up the truck and use it to our advantage in the future. I had a feeling they would not be able to find anything without my help. Even if they did find the Lifeguard Tower while I was unconscious, it did not make them the greatest navigators in the world. The rest of the island was huge, and the only other person who knew even the smallest nooks and crannies about this place was me. After living here on the island for around twenty-five years, it was hard not to go exploring a place that was so far away from the conforming society. Unfortunately, Sinamoi did not see what I was trying to get at and was not letting me go due to the fact that there were still flesh eating zombies out there, hunting for anyone or anything to eat. I could not blame him; after having been attacked by three of them in the same day it was hard not to let a person go back in the field once again. Still, the fact remained: Logan and the others needed my help getting those parts, and only I could help them. We were a team, even if one member was nearly torn apart. Others were not as lucky as I was, as any of us were. The least I could do was help them out as much as I could. This was not just for me, but to help Sinamoi and the other survivors…well, _survive_.

Sinamoi sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Abigail." He said sullenly. "I'd love to let you go, but you can't fight those things in your condition."

"All of my limbs are still attached, and I can walk just fine," I said to him. "I'll be fine."

"Yeah, but what about running? Think you can run away from them fast enough?"

"Of course. You've forgotten who was on the high school track team four years in a row."

"I know that, but there was never a race event called 'Run as if it's the zombie apocalypse.'"

Pouting, I glanced over at the four, who were waiting outside and checking to see if they were ready to head outside in the open.

"Look, I may not be the strongest member of the group, but I'm more of an asset to them than anything else," I explained to him, looking back to find him looking at the four as well. "I know my way around medical things, _and _ the real doctor here is need of supplies, so I'll be like a walking doctor and bringing back the supplies needed to help you guys." Sinamoi simply looked at me, recalling when we had to break down the door to medical room only to nearly get a face full of zombies. He was not convinced. I sighed. "I couldn't…I couldn't protect Nathan or my parents, Sinamoi, and I know Drake is in good hands for the time being…but I…I can't sit here and let something happen to them, the only other people who have a chance at helping you." I shook my head. "I may not know them as much as the next guy, but…at least I can help them without turning into one of those things."

It was then that he started contemplating my words, since his gaze fell to the ground in deep thought. I knew he was trying to find a good enough reason to let me go, but was still worried about what could happen to me along the way. He already lost Nathan - _I _already lost Nathan - and he was worried about losing another friend. Granted, he did not want anyone going out there for fear of losing them to the demons out there, but since I was immune to whatever this was I had a higher chance of just getting torn apart instead of turning into one of those things. Also, I had a brother to worry about. I was not sure if he was immune, too, but I certainly did not want to take any chances. That was probably another reason why Sinamoi wanted me to stay, so I could keep an eye out for Drake and make sure he was safe from harm. Fortunately, I did not have to worry about that as much as he probably thought - though, I will always be worried about him whether we were on this island or not. I could trust these people for the time being; I say time being because who knows what could happen while I was away. Still, the four needed my help while maneuvering around the island, since they only got as far as the Lifeguard Tower. The island was much, much bigger than what they probably had in mind, and I felt as though only I could lead them in the right direction. If only Sinamoi saw that.

And fortunately, he did.

Sighing, he shrugged and said, "Alright. I'll let you go." A smile spread on my lips as he moved past me. "But you'll need a weapon. I'm not letting you go out there without on." I followed him until we reached a workbench, where he picked up a machete; the one I used this morning against those undead freaks. "I took the liberty of cleaning and fixing it while you were resting. It should be in better condition now and ready to go when you are."

My smile as I slowly took it from his hand; it looked clean, free of blood, and ready to hack off another head of those things.

"Thanks, Sinamoi," I said, looking back up at him. "I really appreciate what you're doing."

"Just watch your arse out there, mate," he replied, patting the uninjured side of my shoulder. "Wouldn't want to start mourning the death of another friend."

I chuckled.

"I think we've mourned enough deaths for one day," I told him, glancing down to find my bag and grey jacket sitting next to the workbench as well. "Hey, I was looking for those."

Sinamoi looked at them as well just as I dropped to one knee and started to put them on.

"I decided to keep them here in case you found your weapon before I gave it to you," he explained as I finished slipping on Nathan's old, bloodied sweater. "I had a feeling you would want to go back out there to help everyone once you found out you were immune to all of this."

Slipping on the backpack carefully, I returned to my feet and looked at him, the smile still imminent on my face.

"You know me all too well, Sinamoi," I simply commented before turning around and making my way to the others. It was clear they had already finished checking everything and were ready to head out once again. Instead of simply guessing, I decided to ask once more to assure their readiness before entering the field of the unknown. "All set?"

They all looked at me, sending me their own responses of yes, before giving me their own curious expressions.

"What's with the jacket?" Logan asked, holding a paddle on his shoulder. I looked down at the opened grey jacket as he went on. "Don't you know this is an _island_? And it's _hot_?"

I rolled my eyes at the emphasis on "island" and "hot," resisting the urge to answer him with some snappy come back, something along the lines of "No shit, Sherlock."

"I am well aware of the extreme temperature and the ridiculous apparel, Logan," I said, carefully fixing the backpack to make it a little more comfortable, "but…someone special gave it to me. He said it would help keep the zombies from sinking their teeth into me for a while."

"I don't think he realizes that that won't last very long against those things out there," said Purna - I had gotten her name while helping Jack get the door open - as she tapped her baseball bat lightly against the ground. "And besides, you're immune to it. Doesn't he know that?"

I felt a pang in my chest as I remembered the reason behind why he - he being Nathan - did not know that I was unable to become one of them, but pushed those emotions off for the time being. Now was not the time to be thinking about that.

"Let's just say…let's just say he never got the chance to find that out," I muttered, my eyes trailing to the ground. They remained silent, almost immediately figuring out what exactly I meant by those words. However, instead of letting them ponder that thought any longer, I looked back at them and sighed, changing my saddened form immediately. "Enough about that for now. Let's get a move on before the sun starts going down."

With a simple nod from everyone, I walked in front of the others and headed toward the gate. I had already told them of how I knew my way around much of the island, and that I was more than willing to help them to lead the way in some parts. I was more or less a guide for them while acting as their aid as well. Without me, I feared they would get lost. Though, the signs that were around the island would help greatly, but I was worried that some places would not be fortunate enough to lead them in the right direction, especially with all of the demons that were out and about. Not only that, but the sun was going to go down soon, and when it got dark things would just get worse than before. It was bad enough those things were outside in the day light where we could see them, but just thinking about them in the dark sent a shiver down my spine. It was just enough to change my about going out there, but I continued to persevere through the thoughts of fear and anxiety. It was for the other survivors that resided at the Lifeguard Tower. Whether we had to go out into the darkness or not, we were doing it for them even though at the same time it was for us as well.

Before I knew it, I found myself walking through the opened gates of the Lifeguard Tower, leaving its sanctuary and into the battlefield. Swallowing hard, I tightened the grip on my blade and kept moving forward. Everything around us was silent; the only exceptions were the wild life, the waves, and the distance screams of the creatures that resided. This truly felt as though I was walking through a horror movie, as if the screenwriter was writing down my every thought, my every motion, and every sight. I could even feel the tension coming from the others as well, knowing that at any moment anything could pop out and chase down like a coyote chasing a rabbit. That was one of the reasons why my hazel eyes kept glancing at the brush of trees nearby, praying that nothing was in there ready to strike as we passed. My senses heightened as we passed a large billboard with the image of a blond haired woman wearing skimpy attire and the words "Atanoi." I would have smiled as a memory came to mind once again, a memory of Nathan. I remembered the first time he actually saw that picture, and the comment he made still seemed fresh in my mind.

"You know, this picture kind of reminds me of you, Abbey," he said, observing the image as if intrigued by its "glory." "It may not be by much, but I can definitely see the similarities between you two."

I looked at him oddly, raising an eyebrow at him. Was he high or something?

"How the fuck does _that_ remind you of _me_," I questioned. "I don't have blond hair, obviously nor do I have any skimpy outfits like that!"

He chuckled and said, "Oh, I know that. But there's something else about her that reminds me of you."

"And what, my dear boyfriend, is that?" I asked, crossing my arms across my chest. I set myself up for his next comment, and it may have resulted in him not having any…_fun_ for the next month.

"I was referring to your boobs, sweetheart," he told me mischievously. That earned a gasp from me and a slap to his face.

"YOU FUCKING PERVERT!"

I felt myself smile at the memory from what seemed like an eternity ago; Nathan was always the naïve young man who could be described by no other word than child. Yet, he was someone that I fell helplessly in love with nonetheless.

"Up ahead," Logan spoke, breaking me from my reminiscing. Looking forward, I noticed a vehicle similar to the one at the garage. Fortunately, we were not very from the Lifeguard Tower, but at the same time not that far from zombies.

"I've got this," I spoke, moving into a jog over to the front of the truck. It appeared to have been left behind, ditched by someone who was trying to escape one of the creatures possibly, and the hood left wide open. There was no smoke or broken parts, giving me the impression that the car did not crash and seemed to be in good condition when it was abandoned. However, there was no time to try and hot wire the thing just to bring it became, since we already had a car back at the Lifeguard Tower, one that needed to be fixed as soon as possible. Returning to reality, I found one of the car parts needed and quickly pulled it out of its original spot before turning to the others. "That's one down, three more to go."

"Since when did you become a car expert all of a sudden," Logan asked, taking the part and putting it in his bag - I had a rather long discussion about how I could not put it in mine due to the fact that I was carrying a shit load of medical supplies, but him being stubborn he tried to protest.

"I spent a lot of time with cars during my high school year," I explained to him just as he zipped up his bag, looking over my machete without much care. "Truth be told, my dad thought it would be cool if I knew _something_ about them."

He smiled and shook his head as we continued our slow trek up the hill.

"Is there anything you can't do, Mrs. Incredible," he questioned teasingly, earning a nudge from me.

"Ride a bike," I responded in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. He looked at me as if I started speaking gibberish. "I can't ride a bike to save my ass."

"You've gotta be kiddin' me," he muttered. "What kinda family you been livin' with?"

I smiled and said, "One that believes that walking is the best way to travel." He shook his head again as I went on. "Now hush before we start attracting attention."

With that, it went silent once again, only the outside sounds of the island remaining and keeping it from the more eerie silences that would have come. Now that we were moving further and further away from the Lifeguard Tower, my cautiousness and anxiety began to rise higher and higher with every step I took. My machete rose a little bit, ready to slice the first thing that came at me, and my eyes continued to trace the brushes and trees nearby. As we started approaching the top of the hill, my eyes caught sight of a second car, one that had been totaled and left abandoned for nature to take over. However, that was not the only thing that caught my eye. Looking around, my gaze fell toward the ground near the vehicle and noticed a body lying on the floor, unmoving and blood splattered around it and on itself. Swallowing hard, I knew immediately that we were moving deeper and deeper into enemy territory, and it was there that we had to start watching our backs more frequently. Feeling paranoid about it being there, I poked Logan with the hilt of my weapon.

"Go check that out," I told him. He looked at me before following my gaze toward the body before looking at me. He raised an eyebrow, as if asking me why I chose him. My eyes narrowed. "1.) Because you're right next to me and 2.) I'm not gonna let one of these fuckers take another bite out of me. Now _go_."

Without a word, Logan did as I asked and moved over to the body, while the rest of us kept moving forward. Just as I thought we were in the clear, my hazel eyes caught sight of yet another body sitting on a bench…_right_ next to the fucking car. Groaning, I cursed under my breath, pissed that I would have to go up to it knowing that it could have have been undead - it was hard not figuring out that much if it was just _sitting_ there. However, before I had a chance to keep going, I noticed Sam B take the lead.

"I'll check this one," he said, moving toward it cautiously and while holding his crowbar tightly in his calloused hands.

I stopped walking and looked further up the road, noticing a third car which was, fortunately nearby. However, I could see two bodies lying near it. _Where the fuck are these things coming from_, I question inwardly, _and why the fuck did they decide to plant their asses in random spots?_ Just as I heard that, a loud growl or groan like sound erupted, making me look back in Sam B's direction. Just as I had suspected, the thing was alive, and trying to get a bite out of him. However, he was not the only one. Hazel eyes widened slightly as another body - a woman to be precise - appeared from behind the truck, its dull yellowed eyes locking onto Sam B and slowly making her way over to him. I watched as Purna, who also noticed the female creature, quickly run past me and toward the thing. She was pretty fast, but I chose to worry about that at a later time. Instead, I took this opportunity to head toward the truck and get the car part. I looked over my shoulder toward Xian Mei, who was looking over at the second truck just as the grip on her own knife tightened a bit before looking at me. She had the same idea as I did, meaning she was going to head toward the second truck while I dealt with this one. It seemed she was waiting for my okay to head over there. With a smile and a nod, I gave her that silent okay before we both went our separate ways.

Recalling my days on the track team, I dashed toward the truck just as Sam B punched the zombie off him and knocked it into the wall nearby. I nearly tripped as I halted myself in front of the broken down vehicle, but I was able to keep my balance and start prying the car part out. Out of my peripheral vision, I watched Logan run up the path where Xian was either working on getting the third car part or dealing with the zombies that I knew had to be lying there. Either way, she had some help, and I was thankful for that. Pulling out the car part with some difficulty, I looked over my shoulder just as Purna smashed the head in of the female zombie, its brain matter and blood splattering all over.

"Goddamn it…" She muttered under her breath. Ignoring the blood staining the beige cobblestone, I looked over to find that Sam B had dealt with his own enemy; the curve of his crowbar had embedded itself into the side of the creature's head and, just as I looked at him, he ripped it out and allowed it to fall back to the ground, this time permanently deceased.

"Holy fuck…" I murmured as he looked at me, shrugging as if he had done nothing wrong.

Before I had the chance to say anything else to him, a loud screech erupted through the air, one that sounded animalistic. Returning to reality, I moved out from in front of the truck to find that Xian was having a bit of trouble getting out the car part while Logan was finishing off one of the two zombies that I just _knew_ were waiting for someone to walk by. Looking further up the road, I noticed one of the creatures jump out of the bushes - See? See what I mean about them hiding it the bushes? - and spot Xian. Thinking quickly, I suddenly recalled having some diving knives in my backpack before leaving the hotel, and I remembered just what I could use them for: that exact moment in time. Flipping my bag to the front just as the demon screeched again, I unzipped the pocket that held some of the knives and pulled one out as fast as I could, fortunate enough to not get nicked by one. I did not bother zipping it again as I tossed back into its original place on my back. I had to act fast if I was gonna keep Xian Mei from getting hurt, but to be honest I was not sure how exactly the instinct came over to do the one that that was actually useful: throw the fucking knife.

Barely thinking, I used what energy I had left to aim for just a split second before throwing it toward the thing. It continued to run mindlessly toward Xian, as if it did not see what was about to go. Hell, even I did not see what was about to come. Just as it was about to pounce on her, the knife connected to the side of its head, embedding itself into its skull and knocking it to the ground. At the same time that the knife connected to the head of the demon, Xian successfully pulled out the car part, looking over her shoulder to find out that her life was saved in the nick of time. Everything went eerily quiet as we waited for something else to come out, but when nothing happened, we briefly relaxed for a moment. I leaned against the side of the truck and looked down at the car part in my hand. _We're risking our fucking asses for a bunch of Goddamn car parts?_ I questioned myself, mentally punching myself in the face for even thinking of going out on a mission like this. _Maybe Sinamoi was right; maybe I should have stayed back at the Lifeguard Tower._

After another few moments of silence, I heard Logan chuckling out of the blue, causing us to look at him curiously. When he was done, he looked at me, as if I accomplished some daring feat.

"Anything else you got up your sleeve there, Mrs. Incredible?" He questioned, chuckling all over again. My eyes narrowed back, but this time I had enough energy to respond with a comeback of my own.

"Just keep watching your ass and doing your job, _Mr. Porter_, instead of cracking jokes and shit," I teased, pushing myself off the car triumphantly and starting the trek forward just as Logan's green eyes narrowed slightly at the comment. For the folks who do not know, but a porter is a person that is hired to carry burdens…er, baggages…_stuff_. Hence why I chose to nickname Logan "Mr. Porter" for the time being.

After that moment, it went silent again as we continued our way to search for the last car part. After having dealt with the zombies before, I had a feeling we would be dealing with more in the coming future. That being said, our caution was raised to the maximum level, and we were looking around ever corner, nook-and-cranny that we could find. Coming on a turn, my eyes caught sight of a group of about two or three cars; one of them happened to be a truck with the car part needed to complete our search. However, before I could set foot toward it, my eyes fell upon the "dead" body leaning against one of the cars as well as a second one eating a deceased corpse all the way down to the bone. I frowned. _Fuck, _I told myself. _This is great_. I glanced up the road, only to find another vehicle in the distance. This one was different, though; the vehicle was actually an ambulance. It may have been left to nature once again. Still, there was a high chance that the medical supplies that Jack had requested were there, and we just could not leave to come back. I looked out at the horizon; the sun was now starting to set, and night would fall soon. Being out here a second time would mean coming outside in the middle of the night, and that was something I would much rather avoid altogether.

"Abigail, look out!" I heard Xian Mei's voice exclaim. Looking forward, I was just able to spot the demon getting to its feet before lurching forward at me. Fortunately, I was able to sidestep - more like side jump - out of the way, its hands barely inches from my faces before falling back onto the ground. Before it had a chance to get up again, I looked back toward the ambulance just as Sam B brought his crowbar down on its head, the sound of crushing skull and bones emanating in my ear drums.

"I'm gonna keep going," I said out loud, looking toward the other zombie that was now getting to its feet.

"What are you insane? There's bound to be more of them up there!" I heard Logan say.

My gaze remained on the creature as it stood, looked at me, and snarled hungrily at its next meal - me. It remained that way before I looked over my shoulder in his direction. He also was looking at the demon behind me.

"There's medical supplies up there," I told him, keeping my arms at their sides despite the groaning sounds. "We're not gonna make it back if we get this car part for the truck and head back out here. The sun is going down, and the survivors need it _now_." I looked forward, taking a small step back as I realized just how close it was getting - even if it was walking slowly. "Now stop me if you want, but I'm not gonna make these people wait any longer than they have to."

With that, I used what energy left to lift my foot and kick the bloody demon in the chest, knocking back a little and making it trip and fall to the ground. Taking this as an opportunity to move, I started into a sprint and began heading up hill toward the ambulance truck. Brief memories of the track meets and events I had attended filled my mind as I pressed forward in order to reach the ambulance and find the paramedic's bag as quickly as possible. I was sure the others would be right behind me, or they were taking care of the zombie while going after the car part, but at that point I did not know for sure. My focus remained on getting the medical supplies as quickly as possible before anything else showed up to chase me down. However, just as I was getting closer and closer to it, my hazel eyes widened at the sight of finding a feeding frenzy of them, tearing apart what was once alive and feasting on the organs. A moment of fear ran through my body, yet my legs refused to stop taking me forward. Part of me wanted to go back, maybe wait until tomorrow to get the supplies, but another told me to just keep moving. I had a weapon in hand and was able to fight whatever came at me, but I still had the injuries from today. It was bad enough that I was back in the field, but to fight against those things again with the wounds in desperate need of healing was extremely dangerous. Nevertheless, it was a risk I was willing to take if it meant helping to other survivors.

Resolve clear in my mind, I pressed forward even harder, gaining momentum as the creatures looked up at me, before taking a giant leap - while using my hands first to lift myself up - and landing in the back of the truck. I landed on one knee with a bit of a thud, shaking the vehicle a bit, but remained stagnant. I looked over my shoulder, watching as the groups of zombies started getting to their feet. They heard me; they knew my presence was there, and they were going to hunt me down and skin me alive. Cursing under my breath, I looked around the back of the truck. My eyes looked over some bandages inside a tool box, but I chose to leave them there for the time being. I had enough bandages as it was, even if every bandage counted for saving a life. I kept searching around for the paramedic's bag, trying to rush myself in case they were getting closer, before spotting it several inches away from me. Smiling, I leaned forward in it's direction, reaching out in order to get a good hold of the strap. Unfortunately, just before I could get a good grip on it, something took a strong hold of my ankle. I gasped as I looked over my uninjured shoulder, spotting the decaying bastard that held on to me, just as it roughly pulled me back and away from the bag. Cursing, I tried to grab a hold of something, _anything_, that would keep me from being pulled any further before latching on to the side of the truck.

I looked back at it, watching as the blood seeped from its head and dripped past his dull colored eyes. It snarled at me with yellowed, blood stained teeth and growled, as if the object I was going for - the paramedic's bag - belonged to him and him alone. Frowning, I raised my free foot slightly before mustering enough energy to kick its face, trying my best to stun it long enough to release me and allow me to get away from him. I hit it at least three more times in order to pry the thing off my annle, but it refused to let me go. It was relentless in its attempt to feat on my leg. No way was I going to let that happen, and it gave me enough adrenaline to give it another swift kick. I looked around to find the others closing in on me at an alarmingly slow pace, though the number had decreased from what I had seen before. Unable to put two and two together, I continued kicking the bastard in the face, only to cause it to grip my leg harder and pull on me even more. That was when a realization hit me. _I have a fucking weapon!_ I told myself, the grip on my machete tightening in that instant. _So what the fuck am I doing kicking at it as if I don't have one?_

Releasing the side of the truck, I allowed it to pull me toward it even more. Before it had the chance to take a bite out of me, I gripped my machete tightly in both hands before bringing it down on its head. Blood started pooling out of its head and falling onto my neck, bits of my face, and a little on my chest and shirt. Not wanting to get anymore blood on my than I had to, I pushed it off me before pushing myself away from it. I felt disgusting; I felt gross as the blood of someone else fell onto me. I had nothing against blood or anything like that; it was the fact that it pooled on my as if someone poured water on me that made me squeamish. After a second or so, I looked back at the bag and tried to move toward it, only to have yet another face full of zombie reaching out, grabbing hold of my sweater, and pulling me toward it, The action made me drop my machete unconsciously as my hands fell up to its neck. It's mouth was open and ready to take a bite out of me, trying so hard to eat the flesh that I was trying to heal. I was not sure as to what I could against it, since my previous weapon had dropped and landed outside of the truck. Where it was located I was unsure, but I was much too focused on saving my own ass than finding my weapon.

I started to feel it moving closer to me, its snarling teeth bearing and foul stench of its breath filling my nostrils. It smelled like metallic blood and rotting flesh, a combination that would have caused me to empty my stomach on the spot if I was not pushing back the bloody bastard. However, just before my nausea could kick in entirely, its head lurched forward suddenly and started to hang in front of me, unmoving and lifeless. The strength it once exerted moments ago as it tried to bite me vanished like the wind and now the thing started leaning against me. I did not realize what had happened until I noticed it go limp. My eyes fell upon a knife - the same one I used to save Xian Mei from an infected - embedded into the back of its head, killing it instantaneously as it's brain had been impaled. Happy that it was no longer trying to eat my face off, I pushed it away from me and moved back a little, catching my breath. As I did that, I looked up to see a familiar face, smirking as if he accomplished the impossible.

"Logan!" I exclaimed happily. "Thank fucking God you're here!"

His smirk remained as he looked at me.

"Looks like Mr. Incredible is a more appropriate name, huh Abigail?" He asked as I turned and reached for the bag, grabbing it and slinging it over my uninjured shoulder.

"Nope," I responded, hopping out of the truck and sprinting over to him to avoid the other creatures that may have been nearby. When I stopped in front of him, I went on. "Mr. Porter still has a nice ring to it. Besides, I'm not gonna call you Mr. Incredible if it's gonna sound like we're married." He shook his head as we started sprinting back toward the Lifeguard Tower. "Where did the others go? Aren't they with you?"

"I told them to head back to the Lifeguard Tower with the last car part while I came after you," he told me. "I wasn't gonna leave you there to fend those things off by yourself while going after the medical bag, now was I? Who knows just long you would of lasted?"

"Now you realize that I'm not Mrs. Incredible?" I asked, a smile forming on my lips.

He shrugged and said, "I still do, but only when you want to be."

I chuckled and shook my head. It was worth a shot.

"Just don't make a habit out of calling me that, Logan," I told him. "I'd rather not be remembered as something I'm not."


	10. A Somewhat Calming Night

_**That Night…**_

Hazel eyes slowly opened as I awoke to find myself lying on the same couch that I awoke on seemingly hours ago. My mind raced as today's events crossed through my mind, and just thinking about it all caused me to have trouble sleeping. It was only a half an hour since I decided to fully rest for the night. Unfortunately, with my mind racing and the distant sound of screaming zombies I was unable to do just that. Who could sleep when all you can think about is killing the people you used to spend time with all your life? How can one sleep after having bashed in the heads of everyone he once knew like family? Pursing my lips, I turned my head to look around the dark room, looking over the few people that had also decided to get some sleep for the night. It surprised me to know how easily they were able to fall asleep without having to worry so much about everything around them. Maybe they were, but were trying to rest and at least forget about everything around them. That was a good thing, I suppose. They were doing their best to try and put all of this shit out of their mind for the time being. Then again, they were not out there risking their lives to find objects that would help the others find a little hope in these dark times. In fact, they were the people I was risking my life to give hope to, the people _we _were risking our lives to give hope to. At least they were able to get some rest knowing that help was there; question was…where was _our_ help?

Frowning, my head lowered even more to find Drake lying close to the couch. He was holding onto my hand, which draped over the side in a bit of a comfortable manner. He did not grip it as if letting go would be the last time he ever got the chance to hold onto me, but it was enough to let me know he was there. Sighing, I slowly removed my hand from Drake's before sitting up, running a hand through my dark choppy hair. I did not have enough time to keep myself from looking as if I had gone through the wringer, but with all the frantic running around there was no time. Besides, who had time to worry about hair in a time like this? Glancing downward, my eyes caught sight of Nathan's jacket lying over me, shielding my legs from view and attempting to keep me warm. It may have been nice outside, but inside it felt cold inside, hence the reason why I decided to use his jacket for warmth. I glanced down at Drake's sleeping form before pushing the jacket off me and swinging my legs passed the eleven-year-old's body so as to not wake him. He was a pretty light sleeper, but walking over him as sneakily as a mouse was something I could do without waking him. He was not bad if woken; he was actually pretty calm, but I would rather let him rest after everything he went through. It was probably a lot worse than what I went through, since he was forced to listen to his own mother and father be brutally murdered at the hands of people he may have known.

Clicking my tongue unconsciously, I slowly stood up and stretched until , glancing down at Drake once more before tiptoeing past him and out the door. _Maybe going outside for a little will clear my head_, I thought as I passed the medical room and turned to walk toward the garage. Despite the fact that those things were out there, hunting down their next meal, it was nice to go outside for a little while and enjoy the safety while it lasted. After tonight, things would never be the same - even if nothing was the same after waking up to hear chilling screams of the dying and the already deceased. After tonight, I would be throwing my life on the line to give these people some form of hope while help was on the way, _if _it was on the way. Who the Hell knew anymore? Time was no longer on our side; only the realization that it may have been the end of the world as we knew it. It was hard to think about, but it was the truth. And the truth was hard to disguise when you are staring at it with your own two eyes.

Rubbing my arms as a chill swept by me, I entered the garage, spotting the truck that Hank was fixing up. He said something about how it would take him most of today, but he would finish it tomorrow morning when he woke up. He knew we would need it very soon if we were going to help everyone survive, but sleep was something he needed to be at his best. Hell, sleep was what everyone needed right now. Unfortunately for me, that damned being in the sky was not allowing me to have that sleep. In the back of my mind I could hear him laughing on his - or her - throne, toying with my head and playing with my mind. I sneered at the thought as I moved down the few steps. _And people claim that God is here to protect us_, I thought as I moved passed the front of the truck. _Well, if that's true, where the Hell is He?_

It was after that thought that a smile formed on my lips. Once again, I recalled a moment from my past that involved Nathan - I suppose his death was taking a harder toll on me than I thought. I recalled the day when I told him that I was not exactly a member of the Roman Catholic Church. In other words, I was not a Catholic like so many others were. The look on his face made me want to laugh out loud, but due to the hour of the night I had to hold it in. Still, it was a little difficult as his face - one of shock, surprise, and horror mixed into one - lingered within my mind.

"You don't believe in God?" He questioned as we walked along the beach. This was years before we started dating, mind you.

Looking at him, I shook my head.

"I never said that I don't believe in Him," I explained.

He tilted his head; he was confused.

"But you just said you're not a Catholic," he said. To that, I nodded. "Doesn't that mean you don't believe in God?"

I shrugged and said, "It could mean that, but in my case…it's probably not true." When his face remained in its confused state, I sighed. "Nathan, I'm Agnostic."

He blinked, the word not registering in his head. However, I could tell he was thinking it over. After a few minutes, though, he sighed in defeat.

"Alright, I give. What the heck is that supposed to be?" He asked, his voice mimicking a child who did not want to think through the information he got.

Smiling, I pat his shoulder.

"In a simple term, it means that I'm someone who doesn't believe that there is a 'God' per say unless there is proof to show it." He stared at me for a moment, trying to piece together, before shrugging. I sighed once again before continuing. "I'm not an atheist, but I can't necessarily say that I believe He's there."

"So…what you're saying," Nathan started, the look in his eyes telling me he was starting to get it, "is that…you don't believe in God, but you think something is…there?"

"In a manner of speaking, I suppose you could say that," I assured him. "It's hard to explain, really. I'm sorry for making you think so much."

"No, no! It's okay!" He said, his smile returning to his face. "It's good to know someone who has a different…'religion,' I suppose it's called." He glanced at me as I shook my head. "Oh…uh…well, then it's a belief! It's good to know someone who believes in something other than my own. Gives me more of a variety as to what others believe."

I nudged him lightly in a playful manner.

"I'm glad your so open minded, Nate," I said to him. "It means a lot that you're like that, and you may be the first."

As the memory faded from my mind, I found myself opening the hatch leading to the upper level of the Lifeguard Tower, feeling the ocean breeze come over me as I lifted the door upward. The scent of the ocean and the sea filled my nostrils as I inhaled deeply. The night was calming, as if everything that was happening…just never happened. It felt as if the reality did not exist, and it had returned to the days where everyone came to escape their lives of the outside world. Reality had not taken the time to give nature the bigger picture. It did not let nature know that the world may have been ending, that zombies roamed the island and feasted on the flesh of other human beings. It was strange to actually see it with my own eyes, but at the same time I felt jealous. I felt jealous to know that nature itself was not registering that everything was going to Hell. In a way, I wanted to feel like that. I wanted to be like nature; I wanted to be in a place where reality does not effect me. A place where all this shit does nothing to me. I wanted to be in a place where I could feel free and not have a single care in the world. Unfortunately, life had played a cruel trick on me, forcing me to face this God forsaken reality as if I could handle the weight of the world as it slammed against my shoulders. Life was a cruel mistress, and that statement was more true than anything I ever heard - occasionally there will be a few that surpass it, but for now, that statement would do the trick.

Climbing up the last few steps, I chose against shutting the door behind me before continuing my way forward. I would come back inside in a little while once I felt tired enough, so keeping it open would be a little more convenient. I recalled Sinamoi saying something about staying up for a little while longer in order to see if he could get into contact with the voice. What he did afterwards was beyond me, since I had come down here to get some rest. Moving past the metal shelves that carried random objects, objects that I did not feel like looking over, I silently tiptoed over to the Lifeguard radio building. Choosing against going inside, I walked passed it and continued moving toward the end that overlooked much of the island. It may not have been the best view in the world, but it was enough to take any tourist's breath away. I felt a smile play against my lips as I slowly moved toward the railing, a gentle breeze brushing against me. The silence was almost ethereal were it not for the occasional cries from the demons still lurking about. Fortunately, it was one thing that I chose against worrying about, knowing that we were safe from whatever tried to come up here.

Raising my hands slightly, I placed them against the freezing cold metal railing, the chill sending a shiver down my spine and back up, before allowing them to slide forward and causing me to move and lean forward as well. I felt myself slowly relax a little with every passing second that I was there as I gazed out into the open. The dim light of the moon's rays gave it a calming glow and helped me clear my mind a little. However, despite the amount of light and its peacefulness that it gave, when I looked down I could faintly spot at least one or two zombies roaming aimlessly on the beach, hunting for its next meal. At one point, I thought one of them looked up and spotted me in the far off distance, but I relaxed again as it looked away and continued moving along the beach, dragging itself forward as if it did not realize the dead weight it was carrying. I assumed that it did not see me, and therefore was going in search of anything, or anyone, to nibble on. Blinking, I looked up at the sky, staring at the moon and stars that sat up there, clueless as to what was going on in our world right now. I frowned, sighed, and leaned down to place my head against my forearms.

Why did this have to happen when it did? It was the worst possible time to even come, and yet it arrives anywayWhat could we have done that could have possibly caused this? There may have been a shit load of problems in the world outside, but here on Banoi it was different. Granted, there was the occasional raskol gangs doing their own illegal shit, but that was it. Other than that, Banoi was considered the most peaceful island in…well, as far as I knew, the world. Were we the ones who had to suffer through all of this because of everyone else's idiotic actions? But why? Why would a peaceful place like Banoi be put through this shit? The inhabitants did nothing wrong, nothing but help those who visited feel welcome and enjoy their stay. I was one of the people who was like that - if they deserved it, of course. Still, the fact remained. It was possible that the being in the sky, as mighty and powerful as he was, decided to play a little game on us, a game that would cost millions their lives. I sneered at the thought. _If this is your way of playing a sick joke_, I said more to myself but as if I were speaking to the deity itself, _then you're nothing more than just a piece of shit…_

"I figured you'd be the first one to fall asleep when we got back." I jumped at the sound of the voice as it broke through the silence. I swiftly turned around out of the surprise that someone was there with me, but relaxed when I realized that it was not anything outside. The person seemed to notice that, and laughed. "Trust me. I don't think you'd notice if I was one of them. You didn't last time."

Rolling my eyes, I leaned against the railing.

"Ha ha, you're so hilarious, Logan. Remind me to laugh even harder next time you tell a real joke," I responded, watching as he sauntered over to stand next to me while keeping his arms crossed. "What are doing up, anyway? Aren't _you_ supposed to be sleeping right now?"

He shrugged and said, "Let's just say a little birdie woke me up and told me what you were up to."

"My _brother_ woke you up?" He glanced at me briefly and nodded as I groaned. "Ugh, sorry about that. Probably because he saw me walking off without telling him. He must have gotten worried that something was wrong."

"Well, he may be right about that," he said, leaning against the railing in the same manner that I had done moments ago.

Blinking, I turned around and mimicked his actions.

"What do you mean?" I asked him. "There's nothing wrong with me…well, other than the fact that everything and everyone I used to know has gone to Hell and was sent back to eat our flesh." I could tell he rolled his eyes, but I also knew he had a smile on his face as he did that. "Well, it's true."

"I can tell, but I think there's more to it than what your brother gave off," he said. I looked at him at the same time he looked at me. "That, or he just doesn't know."

"Drake is a smart kid for his age, and a lot more mature than he puts off," I explained. "I'm sure he knows why, but chooses not to tell you."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"Simple: he doesn't trust you."

His brows furrowed questioningly as he asked, "Doesn't trust me? Even after going all that way to save your life for him?"

I shrugged.

"I'm pretty sure he's very grateful you did that," _As am I_, "but I'm not sure if it'll be enough to fully gain his trust." He paused for a long moment before chuckling. Now, it was my turn to give him a confused look. "What's so funny?"

"If you're right when you say he doesn't trust me," he started, looking over the darkened horizon, "then why is it that he woke _me _up instead of asking anyone else he knows, like the lifeguard, to find out what was up with you?"

That was the question that threw me off guard, and even got me thinking about. I knew Drake for eleven years, knew just how he acted, and knew it was very hard to earn his trust. I may not know what it was like to try and gain it - it happened more to my friends than anything else - but it was hard to miss when people did things for him only to be told flat out that he still did not trust them. The only people he actually gave it to was myself, my parents, and even Nathan. No one else but those few. Hell, I was surprised when Nathan had gained his trust so easily and after the first few weeks of meeting him. Granted, it was before we started dating, but Drake was very persistent when it came to taking my relationship with him - Nathan - to the next level. Drake was partially the reason why Nathan and I ever became an item, even after he started his relationship with Rita. Now that Nathan and our parents were dead, he was down to one more person to trust. That person was me. However, based on what Logan had told me, it was different. Logan believed that Drake was starting to trust him after just a day possibly because my life was technically saved by him. _I highly doubt that_, I told myself. Drake would _never_ start trusting _anyone_ within just one day. It was out of character for him; Hell, it was out of character to trust anyone after the first day! That being said, why was Drake asking Logan of all people to find out if I was okay?

Blinking, I slowly looked out at the horizon. After another moment, I felt his green eyes fall upon me again. It was after another few moments that I exhaled.

"I…I honestly don't know…" I muttered truthfully. "He's never really the type to trust anyone so easily."

"He trusts you, doesn't he?"

I gave him a look.

"I'm his _sister_, for starters. Secondly, I've known him for _eleven years_. And thirdly, I saved his life from those…" I looked down at the beach, "those fucking things down there!" Sighing again in an attempt to calm my slowly riling nerves, I closed my eyes. "It's just…it's just weird."

"Maybe it's 'cause of everything that going on," Logan suggested. "I mean, I have start trusting people I barely even know with my life."

"Trust me, Logan, we're in the same predicament as you are," I muttered. It became silent between us, but it was not as awkward as I thought. Instead, it was much more…calming. As if everything that happened last night was but a memory from many years ago. It was after that long silence that I sighed again. "I don't get it…"

"What don't you get?" He asked.

I kept looking out at the horizon before lowering my head.

"Why did all of this have to happen here?" I questioned. "I mean…there's nothing wrong with this place at all. I should know; I've lived here for twenty-five years." I shrugged and want on to say, "Sure, there's the occasional gang causing trouble, but…other than that…this place is nothing but Paradise."

Logan went silent for a moment, trying to figure out what to say to my words, but instead looked out at everything again.

"I'm not really sure how to answer that," he responded truthfully. "If I had an answer, Hell...I'd give it to you straight."

I smiled at his words.

"I appreciate the thought," I told him, "even if the truth hurts, I still would like to know."

Before the silence could set in once more, I noticed through my peripheral vision that Logan was looking at me again.

"Hey, I've got a question now that I'm here talkin' to you."

I looked at him and muttered, "Shoot."

"Back when we were coming back here, after you got that stuff for the Doc," I inwardly chuckled at the nickname he gave to Jack, "you said something that threw me off a little."

Thinking that I knew what he was talking about, I glanced at him.

"You're nickname is still Mr. Porter," I teased with a smirk. "You can't change my mind no matter how hard you try."

At that, he chuckled, recalling the moment I gave him that name in the first place.

"Naw, it's not that, _Mrs. Incredible_," he responded in a mock fashion, earning a nudge from me before going on. "It was on the way back. You said that you'd rather not be remembered as something you're not." He paused as I tensed. "What did you mean by that?"

I remained silent as I slowly began shrinking away. Somewhere in the back of my mind I just knew I would regret saying those words. Unfortunately, I was not thinking straight and they just…came out. I did not think anything of nor did I think he would ask about it, but now that he was I did not know how to answer him. In reality, it was more on a personal level, but I did not want to keep Logan wondering, let alone worrying about it. Still, it did not matter to him. Why should he care about a silly little comment that I made? What does it matter to him what went on in my past? It was not as if he could change it. Hazel eyes fell lower. _What the Hell am I thinking?_ I asked myself, mentally slapping myself in the face. _That's just being plain rude._ It was not as if he caused everything that happened in the first place. If he was curious, I could tell him a little bit. Maybe I could even have a little fun with it, granted that I keep myself under control and not get all emotional about it, That the was the only thing that would really screw me over. I may not have been the emotional kind of person over the little things, but when it came to big past events, it was something I would get a little teary-eyed over. Nevertheless, it still would be interesting to see how far I could go without breaking down. _I sound like a cruel person who doesn't even care about what happened…_ I thought, _but at least it's better than moping about it, I suppose._

Satisfied with my solution, I looked at him before smirking.

"What do _you_ think it means?" I questioned teasingly, standing up straight but keeping my hands on the railing

Logan paused in thought for a moment, trying to figure out the answer while playing along with my ruse.

"Maybe you're not as incredible as I'm making you out to be?" He asked.

I placed a finger on my chin, mocking a thoughtful expression, before shrugging.

"I guess you could put it that way," I teased, "but you'll have to keep guessing."

He chuckled and turned to face me.

"Why the sudden change?" He asked. "For a second there, you were all quiet. Now you're makin' me guess? What gives?"

I shrugged and also turned to face him as well.

"Well, it _is_ personal information that I'll be giving to you," I started to explain. "That being said, I thought it would be nice to have fun messing with your head a little."

He shook his head as I laughed.

"Don't worry. I'm not as dumb as you think I am." He said. "I'll figure it out sooner or later."

I laughed and shook my head as well.

"We'll see about that. _Mr. Porter_."

My hand fell to my lips to muffle the laughter that came out. I did not want to wake anyone, but the look he gave me was just to much. I could tell he still did not like the childish name I gave to him, but I could not help but say it at least one more time to satisfy myself for the day. After my fit of laughter, I looked up at him, smiling the entire time, while leaning against the railing with my hip. Silence fell between us as we stared at one another, a silence that was rather relaxing and soothing even if it was for a moment. The annoyed expression in his eyes had vanished by now, and he was just looking at me with unreadable green eyes. Smile fading only slightly, I returned the gaze, though mine was probably a bit more readable than his, He probably thought I had something on my mind and was thinking about it; I probably would agree. At the moment, something seemed to snap inside me. Not the bad kind of snap where I went on a "punching the first person I saw" spree, but the kind of snap that was…familiar. I was not sure as to where I had felt that snap or spark or whatever, and thinking about it probably gave me a look of annoyance similar to the one Logan gave me before. Thinking about things for too long gave me a headache, and I could already feel one coming on. What is it that I was feeling, I still could not put into words to form an answer. It was bugging me greatly, and after another several seconds, the headache was much more prominent. Unable to find an answer to the mystery, I went with the next best thing and just got the Hell out of it.

Shutting my eyes, I stood up straight and faced forward, opening my eyes again to look out at the horizon. Unfortunately, he did not want to let what just happened - whatever happened - slide so easily.

"What are you thinking?" He asked, mirroring my actions before leaning against the railing again. "I'm trying to figure it out, but I can't say for sure."

I did not say anything for a moment, trying to figure out what happened, before realizing his question. Biting my lower lip lightly, I turned my eyes in his direction, but did not look at him.

"Just…thinking about everything that's happened so far," I fibbed. "With what happened last night and what's going on today, it's hard to take it all in, you know?" By now, I started to realize my lie was becoming a little more true, but I did not say anything about that. "Granted, last night's events aren't that…well, prominent, but it's still lingering in the back of my mind."

Logan stared at me for a long moment before looking back out at everything.

"Yeah…uh, about that…" He started. Before I could turn my head to look at him, he went on. "Sorry about that."

Surprised, I looked at him, hazel eyes widening. He was…apologizing to me? I was shocked to hear him say that. After what happened, I was sure he would not even consider apologizing. Not that I wanted it, since it was due to the fact that he was drunk out of his mind and nothing exactly thinking clearly (or so I thought). To hear him apologize to me threw me off a bit. Still, it felt…okay to hear him say that. Even though it looked a little out of character for him, I appreciated the thought of him at least trying to say it. That being said, I felt a small smile spread across my lips, a look of appreciation filling my face. However, it soon disappeared as I recalled the snap that took place afterwards, when I punched him in the face and said some…pretty regretful things to him. Things that were out of line.

"No," I muttered, my head lowering. He looked at me as I went on. "_I _should be the one apologizing."

"You weren't the one who came onto me, remember?" He told me. "It was me who came on to you."

"Yeah, I know that." I glanced at him. "But what I did afterwards…"

It took him a short moment to figure out what exactly I meant by that. When it clicked, he chuckled.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about how you socked me in the face." He said more to himself, earning a look from me. "Gotta tell ya. You got a pretty good arm there."

I shrugged, not really feeling better by the comment.

"Yeah, but…" I started. "It's what I said that's bothering me, too." I sighed. "If you're having trouble remembering that, it's when I said if you ever did something like that to me or anyone else I would ruin you like you ruined your career."

It took a moment for Logan to respond, but his words were something I did not expect.

"You're gettin' all upset about that? Damn, woman, you worry too much."

I stood up straight and turned to face him, eyes widening once again.

"_Seriously?!_ You're not upset about that?" I questioned in disbelief. Fortunately, my voice was still low to avoid any unneeded attention.

"'Course not. Why should I be?"

"Because I brought something up that was really personal to you! I figured you'd start ranting on me the second I brought it up!"

He chuckled in response.

"Now that'd be holding a grudge," he told me, draping an arm over my shoulders similar to last night. "I don't often do that, especially when I deserved it."

"So…you admit to fucking up…again?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and ignoring the fact that his arm was there. When he nodded, I shook my head. "Something's awfully wrong with you."

"Hey, I've gotta big heart," he said with a smirk, earning a light pat to his chest.

"Keep telling yourself that," I responded, unconsciously moving closer to him (probably due to his arm still residing on my shoulders).

Shaking his head, I felt his arm move to my lower back, causing me to tense up only slightly.

"Come on," he said. I looked up at him. "Let's head inside and sleep. We've got a long day tomorrow."

With a small smile and a single nod, his arm disappeared as he stared making his way back the way he - or the both of us - came. I watched him walk away from me for a moment before turning my head to look out at the horizon once again. Another light breeze brushed against me, oddly sending a shiver down my spine. As the happened, another shriek sounded in the distance. It sent another shiver down my spine, yet I did not move from my spot. Instead, my mind suddenly started to race with different thoughts.

I still felt a little surprised to know that I was standing there, injuries bandaged up and on the process of healing, watching over my brother who had nothing but the clothes on his back and his elder sister to look over him. I could have been six feet under the damn ground by now - or a fucking zombie roaming around the island - but instead I was alive and on my way to a full recovery. It was weird…knowing I could have died and left everything behind without so much as a care, whether it was already gone or still there. The being in the sky was probably moping in his seat, grumbling about how he was unable to get his hands on me today. In fact, it scared me to know that little fact, even if it was a little far-fetched, among other things such as Drake. I was scared of actually leaving Drake behind to fend for himself. He was so young to be in a place like this; he did not deserve any of it. Not only that, but when I thought about it, this was probably my last chance at fixing the mistakes I made. Sure, it may have been a little too late for that, but maybe through Drake it would be enough to consciously fix everything. It would give me the satisfaction of letting them know I was sorry. Not getting the chance to do that was the biggest regret I will ever have to live with, but maybe I could redeem myself this one last time before moving forward with my life.

"Abigail!" I jumped before turning around, noticing Logan standing there waiting for me. "You waitin' for the sunrise? 'Cause that ain't comin' for the next…" He looked at his watch, "six hours or so."

I said nothing in response to his words - no smartass retort or anything - as I slowly turned around to look at him, gazing into his green eyes blankly with my own hazel hues, as my mind started racing just like before. _It was him_, I told myself; he was one of the reasons why I survived getting my main artery torn out and bleeding to death on the beach. We may have met on a very good note, but he saved my fucking life. Even I did not do the same for him - I left him to die on the stairwell while escaping from the infected Rita for Godsakes! Who the Hell does that? Whether I was trying to save my own life or not, there could have been something else behind her ready to skin him alive. Still, despite all of that, he was able to save my life. It may have been on instinct, but nevertheless he did it. As I mentioned, we may not have started on a very good note, but maybe that could change. Besides, I owed him my life two times over. He was able to give me a chance to get Drake off the island and give him a better live outside of this Hellhole. I did not think 'Thank you' could suffice my unyielding gratitude for what he did for me. Still, I had to let him know how much it meant.

Silently, I slowly walked toward him, my eyes never leaving him. He continued to watch me, curious as to what I was thinking about at the moment, yet I said nothing. I was hoping I was not creeping him out; I would rather avoid doing that. It was no surprise that he could not figure out what I was thinking, and that much I was thankful for. Stopping in front of him, I simply looked up at him, taking note that I was at least a half a head shorter than he was - maybe even shorter than that. I continued to remain silent, wondering if what I was going to do next was even…appropriate. Yet, I was unable to control my actions nor was I able to hold it back. Inhaling, I suddenly threw my arms around his neck, pulling him into an embrace. I had to stand on my toes a bit to make it a little more comfortable for the both of us, but I held onto him as if there was no tomorrow. It threw him off a bit, surprised that I would do such a thing, but he did not try to push me away. Instead, he stood there for a long moment, trying to register what was happening, before relaxing and placing his own hands on my hips. Before he had a chance to ask what the hug was for, I decided to speak up.

"Thank you, Logan," I muttered, leaning my head onto his shoulder. "Thank you for giving me a second chance to clear my conscience…even if it is a little to late to heal my regrets."

Without another word, I felt his arms wrap around me and complete the embrace. For how long we stayed like that I did not know, but all I could remember was wearing a real, genuine smile for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.


	11. To Kill Time

**_The Next Day…_**

"Abbey, what are you doing?" I would have jumped were it a voice I had never heard before, but when Drake's little voice sounded, I simply blinked my hazel eyes once and turned my head around to look at him. He stood next to me, staring at the object that I was holding in my hand in front of the workbench with curious mismatched eyes. After second or two, I looked back at said object again, which was one of the diving knives from my backpack along with some deodorant, wire, duct tape, and a clamp; and began fiddling with it again.

"I'm trying to make something," I simply responded, pulling together some wires that I found lying around the Lifeguard Tower. "I wanna see if it works…and if I remember how to pull it off after a few years."

Blinking, Drake moved closer and continued to observe what I was doing, trying to put it together in his mind as to what it could have been. When nothing came up, he blinked again.

"What are you making?" He questioned, looking up at me with curious mismatched eyes.

"A bomb…of sorts," I responded truthfully. This time, his expression changed to one of curiosity to one of confusion. "I know it sounds crazy, but I know my way around this stuff…kind of. Thanks to Adam, I can actually see if this works and even put it to good use against those things."

Pursing his lips, he remained silent as I continued to fiddle with the wires, careful so as to not injure myself with the blade of the knife. It was bad enough that I had been bitten; it would be stupid to get cut by a knife in just two days. I decided to give it a try while at the same time thinking about last night when talking to Logan. Embracing him like that was something really out of character for me, especially after everything that had happened the day before. Still, I told myself that the past was the past, and there was nothing I could do to change that. Now, it was time to fight for our lives, and holding grudges against comrades would only get everyone killed. Besides, I owed him my life two times over. My lips pursed. Actually, I thought to myself, I think I owe him more than two. Maybe three or…or four! Looking back to everything that happened thus far, it was possible that I owed him my life three times over instead of just two. Number one: I left him behind on the staircase at the hotel, not knowing if there was anything else lingering there. Number two: he pulled me out of the clutches of a zombie chewing my neck off (and from getting a face full of machete). And number three: he saved me from getting my face eaten off again while looking for the paramedic supplies. Three of my lives to make the playing field even between us. As much of a competition as it sounded, I never went back on a promise, even if the person did not want it.

After another few minutes of silence between us, I realized that I had actually completed the bomb attached to the diving knife. Carefully, I looked over it to make sure everything was in place, a small smile gracing my lips over the fact that I remembered everything that Adam taught me. Several years ago, I found out that Adam knew his way around making bombs and even attaching them to weapons when necessary. Similar to Nathan, Adam was a little paranoid about a zombie apocalypse and wanted to be prepared. It was not as severe as Nathan's was, but it was enough to be know he had his paranoia. Fortunately, due to my curiosity, I asked him if he could teach me a few of his tricks - he thought it was because I believed in it, too, but that earned him a slap to the back of the head as my response. Thanks to him, I learned many of his creations in just a few months time, and through trial and error (lots of error; hence why I had a couple of scratches on my hand), I became about as good as he was. Maybe not up to his speed per say, but enough to get by through my life with it.

"What kind of bomb is it?" Drake asked, looking at it with wonder.

I looked at him before showing it to him myself, knowing how careful he would be with it were he to take it (which I knew he would).

"It's supposed to be a type of sticky bomb," I explained him, watching him take the weapon slowly and cautiously into his own. "It's supposed to latch onto a zombie and, after about ten seconds or so, it goes off and sends those bastards straight back to Hell where they belong." He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. After a few seconds, I realized what he was trying to get at. "Don't go all religious on me, Drake. I don't have time for it. There's more important things than that."

Wordlessly, he shrugged and returned the weapon and I set it down on the workbench.

"I'm guessing that means you're going back out there?" He asked, a hint of worry filling his tone. "It was bad enough you went out there yesterday in your condition, but are you sure you want to go out there again?"

Sending him a reassuring smile, I placed my hand on his head.

"I have to help the others with getting the stuff we need to survive." I explained to him. "Sinamoi told us to talk to two people - Mike and Dominic, I believe - and see if they need anything. When we did, we were given some tasks that required us to go out there…obviously. And since we're the only ones capable of avoiding infection, we have no choice."

Drake pouted and asked, "What about the others? Don't they need help, too? Mike and Dominic aren't the only two people who need it."

"We'll be helping them as the days go by as well. I haven't forgotten about them. A couple of people have asked to look for stuff for them, precious items so if we happen to run by a specific location that has any of the items, we can grab it and head back here when we're done with the original mission." I ruffled his hair, earning an annoyed groan. "Don't worry. We'll be doing everything we can to help everyone."

His mismatched gaze fell, look of worry taking over his expression. I could tell he was still feeling upset that I was going to be leaving to go out into the unknown just like yesterday, but in a way I knew he had a sense of knowing and understanding; he understood the reasons why I had to go out there again. It was for everyone else that resided here, to give them a sense of hope and a reason to keep going during this dark and dangerous times. Not only that, but we had to figure out how to get into contact with the voice on the radio in order to figure out how to get off the island and seek out help. Once we had that in hand, I would be able to get Drake out of here and back to the safety of a different country, like the United States. This certainly was no place for a person to live in, let alone an eleven year old boy, added with the fact that he was your brother. It was as I told him before; there was nothing left here for us, and we had to choice but to leave it all behind for a different future. The only way to do that was to look for answers on how to get off the island. Standing around in the safety of a secure building with terrible radio satellite connection was not going to get us anywhere. Thus, it gave us - us being the only people immune to this shit - another reason to go out there and search for anything useful or any other survivors who may have been able to help us find what we and everyone at the Lifeguard Tower need.

After another moment, he sighed and fixed his hair.

"Alright," he said, looking back up at me with his mismatched eyes. "I trust that you're gonna be doing the right thing."

I smiled before leaning down and kissing the top of his head.

"You know I will, Drake," I assured him as I stood back up.

"So…where are you gonna go first?" He asked as I carefully put the knife in my bag; I wrapped it up in a cloth to avoid any mishaps should something go wrong.

I paused for thought as I relayed the conversation from today.

"For starters, we're gonna head up to the Lighthouse in order to find a Signal Amplifier," I explained to him. "According to Dominic, it may be able to help with the radio frequency and help us get into contact with the guy on the radio." I paused again to think of anything else when it came to me seconds later. "I'm probably not gonna go on this one and stay here to rest my injuries, but a guy named Mike was asking for some gasoline to burn a couple of bodies out front."

"I'm guess that's where the smell is coming from," Drake remarked, his nose scrunching up disgustedly.

Smiling, I nodded and said, "How do you think I woke up this morning?" He laughed at my comment as I started to make my way toward the front of the vehicle; Logan and the others were inside the Lifeguard Tower preparing themselves to head out. "Anyway, that's only if we have enough time to do that. Though, I don't think time will be an issue. It's like…eleven in the morning by now."

Usually, he would make a comment about how early it was to be awake, thinking that people should just wake up in the afternoon and things would be alright. However, when I mentioned that it was eleven in the morning, he made no comment about it and said, "Well, that sounds like you've got plenty of time, then!"

Not wanting to wonder why (since I assumed it because of everything that was happening so far), I pat his shoulder.

"We should be back sometime in the afternoon," I told him. "Depending on what we've gotta do in order to get this Amplifier, it'll probably take some time."

He nodded once and smiled; it felt like years since I had seen that smile.

"Alright," he responded, walking up to me and embracing me. "Just try not to get killed…or hurt…"

I looked down at him before returning the embrace.

"I wouldn't dream of it, buddy."

"Okay!" I released Drake and looked over my shoulder to find Logan walking down the few steps and toward us; the others were following behind him, but I could tell that Logan was no leader (at least, that I knew of). "Looks like we got everything we need."

"I've got all I need," I spoke, fixing my backpack and jacket. "All except one." I turned to face him. He looked at me curiously as I raised my palm upward and toward him. "Keys."

He chuckled and shook his head, realizing what I was trying to do.

"Yeah, right." He responded as he moved to the car. "You're not drivin'. I am."

Raising an eyebrow curiously, I decided not to say anything at first and just mess with him. I moved to the other side as Drake went up to the top deck of the Lifeguard Tower.

"Um, I think I would be better suited for this drive," I said to him.

He looked at me as he opened the door and asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Well, for starters, I know the island better than you do." I began, placing my hand on the handle. "And second," I opened the door at about the same time he did. I resisted the urge to burst out laughing as he realized something before I went on, "_I'm_ on the driver's side."

His eyes narrowed in my direction as I heard snickering from Sam B. After a moment, he rolled his eyes in defeat before pulling out the keys and tossing them to me, which I caught with ease.

"Fine," he grumbled, "but I call driving when we get back."

I laughed before saying, "Right, when my arms get pulled out of their sockets by a horde of zombies."

* * *

"I think we gotta live one!" I heard a voice over the roaring of the car as we made our way to the Lighthouse.

I leaned forward a bit to look up through the window as we turned a corner. The giant lighthouse soon came into our view, the gates that blocked out any people, undead mostly, from entering unless someone inside opened it. The way here was more difficult than I had anticipated. I was forced to run over several zombies on the way here, and I think it was the very first time I ever sped through the streets and survived. Before the outbreak, I was always a good driver, always following the rules and never straying from the path for even a second. With a zombie apocalypse ravaging through the island, it was hard to follow the rules. Besides, with Mr. Porter sitting next to me and telling me to speed it up before we were "overrun by decaying and rotting bodies," it was difficult to do just that. I was seconds away from pulling over just to push his ass out of the car; his constant nagging was just pushing it. When I told him to keep his mouth shut or suffer the consequences, he simply laughed at me and made a smart ass remark, claiming that he should have driven to the Lighthouse and the problem would have been avoided.

"Ha, yeah right," I retorted, looking around in search of any zombies. "You would have gotten us lost if I allowed you to take the wheel for more than five seconds."

He chuckled and said, "That's why I'd have been lookin' to you for directions. You'd have been my navigator."

I shook my head.

"Thanks, but no thanks," I told him. "It's much easier to do the driving than have someone who walks to the passenger side of the truck to do it."

Driving toward the gateway of the Lighthouse, I slowly pressed my foot against the break pedal, bringing the car to a slow and complete halt. It did not take long for the gate to start opening, but during that time I decided to look over my shoulder toward the others. I was surprised that Sam B, Purna and Xian Mei did not mind going into the back of the truck, where they could have been pulled right out by any zombies should we have stayed in one spot for much too long. In the back of my mind, I knew I would have liked to switch out; I would let Sam B drive, though, cause I sure as Hell was not going to let Logan do it. Looking back forward, I moved the car through the now open gates, moving the car to park behind a blue truck similar to ours; the only difference was that the blue one did not have any dents and blood stains on it from running over several zombies along the way. Once I put the car in park and turned it off, I pocketed the keys and looked over at Logan, who had taken off his seat belt and picked up his baseball bat before looking at me as. He gave me a look, curious as to why I was looking at him, but before he could ask I looked away.

"Other than that one time, I haven't heard you complain as much since we left," I said to him. "I was wondering why you were so quiet all of a sudden."

"Just gettin' a look at my surroundings, trying to memorize the roads," Logan responded with a shrug.

I raised an eyebrow in his direction.

"Why? So you can make an attempt at driving?" I laughed as I opened the door. "You're gonna have to keep dreaming, iMr. Porter/i. The next person who's driving is Sam B."

He gave me another look, still not appreciating the nickname I had given him, while I simply laughed and got out of the car. Picking up my backpack from the floor, I put it on and secured it to make sure it was comfortable, After that, I shut the door behind me and turned back to the others as they exited the back of the car. When I looked toward the entrance leading inside the Lighthouse, my hazel eyes caught sight of a man wearing a blue shirt and khakis standing there. He had a look of surprise at the sight of us, no doubt because of how we got here and survived. He returned to reality as we started to approach him.

"Can't be," he muttered. "I can't believe you're both alive!"

I shrugged and said, "It's true, my friend. We made it here alive and well," I looked down at my watch; it was noon, "and with enough time to spare, too."

His hands fell on his hips.

"When we left Sinamoi, you looked like," He paused, recalling the memory of seeing us - Logan and I mostly - battered and beaten from the zombies and on our death beds, "…Jesus…" My eyes shifted, putting away the memories of nearly being mauled as if I were a chew toy for a teething puppy, as he went on, "Anyway, you better go see to James. I'm sure he'll be surprised as Hell to see you both still alive and kicking."

As we began following him into the Lighthouse, I heard Purna say, "I'm still surprised the both of you survived the wounds you got."

I looked over my shoulder toward her, smiling.

"Believe me, I thought I was a goner the second I started to black out," I explained. "Even if I would have known that I was immune, I probably would have bled out instead."

"I'm shocked you even made it to the Pool House from the hotel standing," said Logan, looking down at me with a grin on his face. "I thought for sure you wouldn't make it as far as you did."

I rolled my eyes, but kept the hopeful smile and said, "Hey, I even stopped by my house, killed my parents after getting my side bitten, and saved my brother before making my way to the Pool House." The grin he had on disappeared in seconds as I mentioned the death of my parents, but I quickly nudged him and kept smiling. "Don't worry. I'm trying not to worry about it. I suggest you do the same so things don't seem as bad."

With that, he said nothing more on the matter as we entered the Lighthouse. The entire room was blue, and the white lights came from the nearby desks, light fixtures and desktop computers that were located in the room. There was a woman sitting at a desk working on a radio; she was probably trying to contact someone outside of the island, but the look on her face told me she was not getting very far. There was another woman lying on some sleeping bags near the wall, groaning and writhing in pain and agony. A man was standing near her, trying to coax her and let her know that things were going to be okay, that help would be coming soon. I frowned as my head fell a bit; if only I was able to get something like that, know that everything was going to be alright in the end, but how was that going to help at all? Nearly everyone on the island was either dead or a walking undead corpse, hunting down its next meal whether it was family or not. With the government not even stepping in to at least tell us they were trying to help somehow, one would say there was no hope left. Nothing was going to get better anytime soon.

My eyes narrowed. _Stop thinking like that_, I told myself. There was still some hope left for everyone here; it was just difficult to find in these…hard times...but it was still there.

"James is at the top of the lighthouse," the man spoke, breaking me from my chain of thought. I blinked and looked at him as he stopped at a door, possibly to the very location that lead to James. "Go see him."

I smiled, trying to hide the fact that I was off in my own little world.

"Thanks," I spoke. "We appreciate the help." He nodded once as Logan opened the door. Seeing as how I knew my way around here – I recalled coming up here with Nathan a couple times – I decided to take point and head up the stairs. The others followed behind me quietly. It did not take very long to reach the top, maybe at least a few seconds. After briefly looking over my shoulder at the others, I opened the door to reveal the light of the sun – we still had time to see James, get that Signal Amplifier, and head out to the gas station for Mike's gasoline. Upon exiting, I looked around, immediately hearing a familiar voice.

"Holy shit, you're alive!" I looked over to spot James, his face full of surprise at the sight of me (and I was assuming Logan as well). "How the Hell is it that you're still alive?!"

Just like the first guy, I shrugged absently.

"I should be asking you that question," I answered him, approaching him with a calm stride. "I'm more surprised that you and everyone else here is alive instead of one of those things out there, seeing as how you left the Pool House and out into the wild." I smiled as I stopped a few meters away from him. "I honestly thought you were dead at least an hour after leaving."

He shook his head.

"I could say the same thing about you," he replied. "Last time I saw you, you were running off to your parents' place looking for your family covered in blood." He frowned. "By the way…were you able to…?"

My eyes shifted briefly.

"My parents...were already dead when I got there, unfortunately." I explained. I looked back at him. "But I was able to save my brother, so that keeps my spirits up...for the time being." He shook his head; I could tell it was out of surprise. No doubt he was surprised by the fact that 1) I had actually survived a zombie attack, and 2) I was able to rescue my brother in the nick of time. I knew that he was feeling that way because even I was still in a little shock by how I came to be standing in front of him now. At the same time, I was able to note the hint of sympathy over the news of my parents. No doubt the others felt the same way in their own sense, but now was not the time to pity the loss of my parents. Instead, I remembered the others there and said, "I think it'd be nice to introduce you to the others."

Knowing that I wanted to change the subject, he looked to the others while I took a step back so he could speak.

"I'm James," he said to the others as I leaned against the table. "You don't know me, but I sure remember you. Me and Sinamoi had a...slight difference of opinion." I blinked; this I did not know about. "He wanted to stay put and wait for help. I wanted to get the Hell out of there, so I got the Hell out." I shrugged more to myself, since it made sense in my mind, but it still did not answer how he was able to get the people who wanted to join him to the location safely. "Now, we're working on setting up the Lighthouse to signal for assistance. We sure could use your help."

They four glanced between the others for a moment, briefly making the decision amongst themselves, before Logan responded with, "Sure." No doubt they were thinking that we would get the Signal Amplifier if we helped them. As strange as it sounded, it was true. I wanted to help the people here at the Lighthouse, but at the same time help the people at the Lifeguard Tower. Everyone needed help in some way, whether they had a difference of opinion or separated since the beginning. We may not be able to help everyone, but it was best to try.

"Now, if you guys wanna get off the island like the rest of us," said James, "go talk to my people. See what you can do to help, okay?"

Standing up straight, I looked to him and said, "Of course. It's the least we can do for a fellow survivor." _Especially since help may be a lot farther away than we think..._

* * *

I could not for the life of me remember how much time had passed, but judging by the way the sun was slowly going down, I was guessing it was time to hurry. We decided to split up into different teams, each switching off every once in a while to work with everyone a little more effectively. To start off, I decided to work with Xian and help the people within the Lighthouse. Logan and Sam B headed out to a couple shipwrecks in order to find some signal flares for later. Purna conversed with the woman working with the radio, only to come up short when she mentioned a plane that crashed in the jungle - we told her that we would come back once we found it, but there was not much we could do at that point. After another half an hour, we decided to head out to the shipwrecks in order to see what was keeping the two. We were fortunate to avoid the zombies that may have been there previously, probably because Logan and Sam B dealt with them along the way. The only fear I had was that they had gotten lost along the way, as I had been to the shipwrecks back when I was a kid.

My eyes narrowed briefly at that thought; when I remembered spending time near the same spot, back before the ships came along, I felt a sense of nostalgia come over me. I remembered my friends, Martha and Adam, before they left the island to explore the world. It was a shame that I probably would never see them again, and the only thing keeping me sane was their memories and the thought of protecting Drake from the monsters roaming the island. How long would that last, though? How long would it take before I start to lose my mind, wonder what I did wrong and why such an event would happen to the wonderful place I called home? For now, it was a ways from where I was now; it would take a lot for me to just turn awol. With the memories of the past keeping me away from reality for a while, insanity would be far off in the future, maybe even non-existent. At least, that was what I was hoping for, but anything was possible in a place like this, a place where could come from literally anywhere and one would not even notice it.

With that in mind, I blinked, falling back onto the memories of the past, back when everything was just a living paradise.

* * *

_"It's right here," a much younger, twelve year old version of myself said to a younger version of twins, entering the gorge on a hot summer day in Banoi. The crashing waves echoed against the walls, and I could even hear the faint drip-drop of water droplets. The rays of the sun were the only thing lighting up the area around us, giving an ethereal glow to it. I smiled, inhaling the saltiness of the waters nearby. "This is the place I was telling you guys about."_

_"Wow," muttered the young Martha, running ahead and taking everything in at once. The look in her eyes was one of wonder, as a child would have when hearing the story of Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. "This place is amazing!" She went on. Then, she looked at me. "Why didn't you tell us about this place before?"_

_"Because it's a secret," I replied, walking up to her while keeping my eyes on the walls. "I come here when I just want some time to myself."_

_Adam walked up behind us and asked, "I thought you didn't have any problems in your family."_

_My eyes shifted a moment before I looked at him and smiled._

_"I don't," I answered him. "I just like to take some time to myself every once in awhile. Everyone needs at least one." Adam rolled his eyes as he walked past me. "You know, sometimes, when a monsoon hits, ships actually wreck in this spot. I haven't seen one come to shore, but I've seen them after the storm hits."_

_"That sounds awesome!" Martha said as Adam looked over his shoulder at us._

_"It's where I found most of the things in my collection, like the flares we shot last week." I explained._

_Adam smirked before saying, "I'm surprised you haven't found any bodies yet."_

_I laughed at that, while Martha cringed at the thought, as I said, "Not yet, Adam, but I'll sure keep you posted."_

_I looked out at the water, smiled, and took off my sandals. After that, I ran into the water and moved in until the waters reached the end of my shorts, grazing them and turning them into a dark maroon color. A light breeze brushed against me, making me inhale the scent of the ocean once again. It was places like these that made me forget any problems that may have risen in recent times. It was an easy escape from the world, but difficult to pull out. Because of its enticing grasp on my heart and mind, I never wanted to leave the realm. My smile grew as my eyes closed, enjoying the moment for just another moment longer. It was another reason why I chose that place to begin with; it was because it was so peaceful that I never even dreamed of leaving it. It was the only escape I had left in this world when things look grim. When my friends were nowhere to be found, I would just come here, a place that helps me keep my cool and calm my soul. As a child, I thought that feeling would never end; I thought the sanctuary would last forever, and nothing would be able to taint its serenity._

_Boy…was I wrong…_

_"Abigail!" I heard my name, but when I opened my eyes again, I was not the same child anymore. Instead, I was thrown back to a reality I would much rather avoid._/i

* * *

"Abigail, look!"

Hazel eyes opened again to find the same sanctuary I used to go to as a child, only there was something extremely different about it. Ships, as I had once spoken about to Martha and Adam, littered the beach, void of any life. By life, I was not referring to the few undead littering the waters. I was unable to see any that were alive, but that did not mean they were not there. Heart sinking into my stomach, I gripped my machete tightly and sprinted to the location, followed by Purna and Xian. I feared that Logan and Sam B were in more trouble than I thought. When my feet hit the sand, I looked around a moment to find a few stragglers moving toward one specific location. Without a moment's hesitation, I began sprint in that direction. I did not want to waste any time knowing that my comrades were in danger of losing their lives, whether they were immune to whatever disease had spread around. A sense of adrenaline coursed through me, giving me the energy to keep moving even through the water. Unfortunately, due to the fact that I was not exactly looking where I was going, I did not see what took hold of my ankle, tripping me and planting me face first into the water.

I did not have any time to shriek what I hit the water, but the shock was enough to make me gasp in surprise over the fact that I had suddenly fallen into the water. Sadly, I gasped as I fell in the water and inhaled the salt water, forcing it down my throat and enter my lungs. It was enough to send me into a coughing fit, but not enough to keep me from looking down to find the hunger filled eyes of a zombie, a female one at that. She was snarling and growling at me, but by then I felt like I had seen pretty much everything. Muttering something along the lines of "Stupid fucking bitch" before coughing again, I used my free foot to kick her in the face. She would not let go, and made attempts to eat my leg but to no avail. After a few more kicks, I heard a loud snap before the body fell limp into the water, floating lifelessly. Not wanting to waste anymore time trying to see if it was dead, I got to my feet as quickly as I could, ignoring the fact that I was now soaked, before following after the others, hoping that they were alright by themselves. It was then that I realized I dropped my weapon, leaving me defenseless.

"Goddamn it…" I muttered as I began looking around, coughing all along the way in order to get the water out of my body. Unbeknownst to me, the sound of my coughing had attracted the attention of another zombie that was hiding just behind the corner, waiting for its moment to strike. Another moment of searching, I spotted the outlining of the blade a few feet in front of me. With a smile, I moved over to pick it up off the ground, but stopped by the sudden growling that was just feet away from me. Standing up straight, I was unable to comprehend nor think about getting out of the way as said zombie threw itself onto me, knocking me off my feet and straight back into the water. "Shit!" I shouted seconds before falling into the water, submerging my head beneath the waves I once believed were peaceful.

The shock of falling to the floor did not give me time to catch my breath, and I was pretty much stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one side, I was keeping the zombie from eating my face off - they seem to really go for the face more often than not - while trying to breath. Unfortunately, things were looking very grim on my part, as I was having trouble with both. The energy that it took to hold back the damned demon was enough to keep me from holding my breath even longer. I could feel the water flowing into my mouth through my teeth, but I desperately tried not to release what little breath I heart was pounding, my lungs started to burn, and if I was not submerged I would be sweating buckets. However, I could not give up just because I was underwater; to me that was just an inconvenience. The real problem lied with finding my weapon and slicing the bastards face off in one swing. However, as much as I wanted to have that machete in my hand, it dawned on me that I was knocked backward, leaving the blade at our feet.

It was then that I started to panic a little, inhaling some water by accident. It was enough for me to release the breath I was holding onto. The water was quickly filling my lungs despite my attempts to push it out, so I decided to quickly shut my mouth before anymore came in. When I opened my eyes, I realized that the zombie was closer now, making me realize that I was losing strength and fast. Fortunately, though at the same time unfortunately, whatever being was floating around in the sky above had a sick sense of humor.

Within seconds, I found the weight of the demon disappear, while I surfaced and gasped for air, coughing up a storm while trying to get as much water out of my system that I could. My eyes were shut due to the water getting in my eyes, but I was able to figure out the general direction of the shore. Before I knew it, I felt someone take hold of my arm, lift me to a point where I could easily stand, and helped me out of the water, all while I was going through my coughing fit. The moment I could not longer feel the water in my now soaked shoes, I dropped to the ground and coughed up any water that may have been left, wiping my eyes once I paused. When I was sure that it was over, I turned around to find that Sam B had pulled the thing off and bashed his head in. Breathing a sigh of relief, I fell back onto the beach, only to catch sight of Logan - the person who pulled me out of the water - staring down at me. He was smirking, but before I could ask him what it was for, he spoke.

"You good," he asked, "or do you need mouth-to-mouth?"

I frowned for a moment, glaring at the fact that he would make a joke like that, but then started to smile before giving him the finger.

"Fuck you…"


	12. Siblings

_**One Hour Later…**_

_CRACK._

That was the sound I heard as I took into a bite out of my Nutri-Grain bar, which surprisingly did not get damaged. I stared out at the ocean next to my sweater, which was drying off in the sun to clear it of its dampness. My bag sat below it, also drying off, while the supplies that were once inside were removed in case any of it was damaged. Fortunately, it did not appear as if anything was broken; just a little wet from my fall back near my secret place. I looked back on the moment when I looked at the bag in a frantic attempt to make sure that none of the supplies were damaged, only to find a label slapped right onto the tab reading "Waterproof." It was surprising to say the least, knowing that somehow Nathan knew something like this would happen. I frowned at that and took another bite out of my bar. Highly doubtful, I told myself, glaring at the horizon line and noting the clearness of the day, especially at three in the afternoon, while rubbing my freshly wrapped bandages on my forearm. It was impossible for Nathan to still be around; I would know, since I was the one who hacked his head off moments before he ate me alive. Why would he want to come back and help me when it is clear he cannot?

My lips pursed. It was something that I would never really know for sure.

Returning back to the unwanted reality we were currently living in, I recalled what took place afterwards. When we returned to the Lighthouse to return the flares, when helped a guy by the name of Darvin. According to him, the power for the Lighthouse was not working, and that a survivor - Marcus, I believe his name was - went out to fix it, only to not return. If we helped him, then he would allow us into the shed, the only other place we were unable to check for the Signal Amplifier. With that in mind, we accepted without hesitation and headed out to find him. As promised, I allowed Sam B to take the wheel on this one, letting Purna take the front seat, and Logan, Xian and I taking the back. I thought it was a good time to get some fresh air and good idea of what was happening. Turned out I did not miss much; just bodies of the dead and undead littering the streets, broken down cars destroyed and left abandoned, pretty much the same sight I saw while making the way up to the Lighthouse. Only difference was the scent of rotting bodies was more intense than I first anticipated.

Anyway, when we stopped the car in the place nearest to the first transformer, I took the lead and made the way there. The moment we got there, though, we had to take out a few zombies near the gate leading to the transformer; it really came as no surprise to me anymore. After taking them out, we encountered Marcus, who explained that he fixing the transformer when the monsters showed up, and told us to find the other transformer while he fixed the first one. Recalling where the second one would be - I went to both of them back when Adam was learning to be an electrician - I lead the others to the second one. By then my clothes were damp, but not completely soaked. However, I chose not to worry about it while we fought our way to the transformer. When we got there, the door was locked, and no key was in sight. Just as I was about to suggest picking the lock, the former NFL star decided to do things his way…by breaking down the door himself, which in turn triggered the alarm and went off, resonating throughout the entire area.

"You are the biggest idiot ever!" I shouted at over the shrilling sound of the machine, running inside after him in search of the switch. "You're gonna get us all killed by attracting those damn things!"

"No one told me there was an alarm that would go off," he retorted as I flipped the switch to the transformer.

"It's right on the Goddamn door!" I retorted once the alarm was off completely. Not wanting to stay there any longer than we had to, and so I would not have to listen to any excuses the former NFL star had to say, I ran back up the stairs to meet with the others, only to be met with the sound of shrill screaming. My response to that was very simple: "Son of a bitch!"

I shook my head at the memory, taking another bite of the bar and finishing it off completely. There were times when I wondered if Logan actually knew how to read big bold letters.

"How are you holding up?" I looked over to find Drake walking up to me, moving to the other side and looking out at everything as I was once doing.

"Alright, I suppose," I responded cooly, looking out at the ocean as well. "I still feel a little damp, though, but that's only because my pants and bra are the only things left on."

"Well, look at the bright side," he said, looking up at me. "At least Logan let you wear his shirt." When I looked at him, I noticed the small smirk on his lips, before I rolled my eyes and fixed the aforementioned striped shirt. I nearly forgot that, once we returned to the Lifeguard Tower, I chose to stay in order to have my bandages looked at and to dry off my clothes. First thing that Logan did was unbutton his shirt and gave it to me. When I asked him what it was for, he just said, "I have a feeling you will need it." Oh, how right he was.

"Oh, hush," I responded with a simple wave of the hand, making sure my cleavage was not showing too much in the rather large shirt. "He was trying to be nice…I guess." Drake shook his head and laughed, earning a light glare from me. "What's so funny?" I questioned.

When he stopped laughing, he looked at me with a smile and said, "That's what you said about Nathan."

I blinked, suddenly remembering the time when a similar situation happened between Nathan and I. If I recalled, it was a few years back, when I was just starting college. It raining a lot that day, and I did not bring a jacket with a hood. In fact, I did not remember having a jacket at all the day. It was the kind of day where it was warm enough to not need a jacket, but due to the rain one would need something to shield her head. Unfortunately, I was not a very big fan of umbrellas or wearing jackets very much. (According to Drake, I was "too arrogant" to wear a jacket or worry about rain.) It was not that I was being arrogant; it was probably because I enjoyed the rain a lot more than other people did. Sure, I would probably get sick from it, but in a way it was like swimming without feeling as if I was drowning in the ocean. I was still able to cleanse myself of any "sins," as the Catholics called them, that may have accumulated over time without having to step into a church. It was how I always saw the rain, as a means to cleanse of me of all wrongdoings and start anew.

Sadly, no one else saw this view, and sometimes I still felt guilty for the thing I had done.

Going back to what happened, that day turned out to be a drenching kind of rain, meaning there was so much it was hard not to get soaked if one set their own foot just an inch outside. I remembered standing at the door with Nathan, who came to pick me up so I would not have to walk home, and staring at all the rain as it fell to the ground and drenched the floors beneath it. Nathan's car, a BMW I believe it was, was taking the hardest blow, as it looked like it was sitting right in the epicenter. I frowned at the sight while fixing my backpack. There would be no possible way I would be able to reach the car without getting drenched, unless Nathan drove it right through the front of the building. That possibility was out of the question entirely, leaving me to go with the most inevitable decision: run outside as fast as I can and pray that my papers and books do not get too wet along the way. After a few minutes in staring distaste, I looked at Nathan, noting the thoughtful look in his eyes as he stared at the rain. When another moment passed, he looked at me before smiling warmly; he was trying to reassure me, but that smile soon faded when he noticed something.

"Don't you have a jacket?" He questioned, raising one of his blonde eyebrows. "Or an umbrella at least?"

I could not help but smile sheepishly at him, feeling a little embarrassed about having either of those things on me.

"Um…" I started, shifting my hazel eyes briefly before looking out at the rain. "No…not really…" I looked back at his blue eyes, noticing the small smile on his lips. "Hey, I didn't think it would start raining all of a sudden like this."

"I'm guessing you didn't watch the news today, did you?" He asked in a bit of a teasing tone. When I did not answer, he placed his hand on my shoulder - I almost forgot that this was around the time that Nathan was in a relationship with Rita - and laughed. "You really should get into the habit of watching T.V."

"And you should get into the habit of telling that witch of a girlfriend to get off your back," I replied in an almost sarcastic manner. Instead of getting offended, he laughed out loud. He knew it was true, but he just would not admit that. "Besides," I looked at the rain again, "I'm busy being outside and…doing outdoorsy stuff. Like a normal Banoian." I noticed him shake his head briefly before falling out of view, removing his hand on my shoulder. I did not look at him as the sound of rustling filled my ears. When another moment passed, I suddenly felt something fall over my head. When I looked up, it was his grey sweater - the same one I took from his dead body before leaving the hotel - cover me. I looked at him curiously and asked, "What's this for?"

He smiled warmly.

"It's so you can stay dry as we head out to the car," he told me.

I frowned as I looked him over a moment, noticing that he was only wearing a t-shirt, before looking at him again.

"I don't want you to get sick, Nathan," I told him. "I'd rather it be me who gets sick than you."

Instead of taking it back, he shook his head. "If it means keeping you healthy, than I don't care about what happens to me."

I shook my head before we starting sprinting out to the car as fast as we could. Even when he was in a relationship with Rita, he always found time to be a gentleman to everyone else.

Bringing myself back to reality, I ruffled Drake's hair a bit just to annoy him.

"Yeah, I know Nathan did that to me," I responded as he glared at me and fixed his hair again. "I don't see how it's relevant to the situation."

When he was finished, Drake looked at me again and said, "Well, maybe Logan is just like Nathan."

I could not help but laugh at his comment, earning a confused look from the boy.

"Yeah right!" I retorted, turning to face Drake while leaning on the railing. "Logan Carter is nothing compared to Nathan. I don't think he'll ever compare."

Drake frowned at those words.

"Don't you think that's a little harsh?" He questioned nervously. "I mean, he did save your life a couple times. The least you could do is be a little nicer."

I shook my head and looked forward before saying, "Look I appreciate the fact that he saved my life, but that doesn't change much. He's still the same arrogant man that made mistakes in his life, only to play them off as if they were nothing."

"Is that fact, or are you just judging him from what you know?" Drake inquired. I looked at him, ready to respond, when I took a moment to think about it. It was then that he started talking again. "Look, I know about the things he's done all the way up until his accident, and I know that he may act as if none of it happened. But think about it: Do you really think he got over it?"

I did not look at the young boy as I thought long and hard about what he said, taking it to heart just as I had always done. He had a good point. Maybe Logan still looked back on his past and remembered the biggest mistake he ever made, walking through life with the thought of the accident forever on his mind. Now that I thought about, maybe I really was judging him much too quickly. Maybe there was more to him than he was putting off. Then again, he came onto me when he was drunk and tried to get me to sleep with him despite knowing that I had Nathan. Still, it was not necessarily his fault to begin with. It was just as I had said before; he was drunk and probably was not aware of what was happening. I was still a little surprised he even remembered anything from that night despite the fact that he was completely hammered, but that was besides the point I was trying to understand. The point I tried to understand was that maybe, just maybe, I should be a little more considerate of what I see or hear about people that I had never met before. Maybe I had hurt him a lot more than I thought when I mentioned his ruined career, but he chose to brush it off as if it meant nothing at all.

My head lowered a bit; now that I thought about it even more, Logan and I were not that different…

"Can we…change the subject?" I muttered unconsciously, not wanting to think about it any longer than I had to.

Wordlessly, I sensed Drake nod once before looking out at the ocean again. When a minute passed, he looked at me again and asked, "Have you ever wondered what's it like outside of the island?"

"Of course, I have," I responded almost immediately. "It's a place where all the materialistic assholes reside, where work feels like working and corruption takes over."

"_Besides_ the fact that Satan may rule everything that isn't Banoi?"

I laughed at that, paused and shrugged a bit.

"Well…" I started, thinking a moment before forming words into my head. "Nathan told me that there were a lot more wonderful sights to see than what was here on Banoi, maybe even more beautiful than this place." I laughed again. "I don't think that's possible, but that's only because I've lived here all my life. Pictures of these supposedly beautiful places can only go so far."

"I know there has to be more than this, Abbey," said Drake, looking out at the ocean as if looking for something. "It's why I've always wanted to get off when I had the time and the money."

I looked at him quickly, brows furrowing worriedly, before saying, "Why would want to leave Banoi? It's a beautiful place where you don't have to worry about everyone and everything that may harm you."

"It's not that I don't like it here," he started to explain, "but it's like those pictures in a way. One can only get so much of a specific place before getting sick of it."

"Not true!" I responded quickly, standing up straight and turning to face him. "I've been living here for twenty-five years, and I have _never_ been sick of this place!"

"Not everyone is the same as you, Abbey, though it is nice to be in a love with a specific place that you call home." Drake looked at me. "But eventually, you'll have to learn to stop living as if the world will hurt you."

"It will. There's no question about it." I looked away. "Have you seen the tourists that come and go? They're all selfish, egotistical and greedy pigs. Many of them only come to make money. They don't care about the island." I paused as I sighed and leaned on the railing again. "I just don't understand why people act in such a way, so uncaring and…just avaricious…"

Drake was quiet for a moment before he asked, "You don't think that of every single person out there, do you?"

After a moment of silence, I looked up and stared at the palm trees below. If my vision was correct, than I was also able to spot a wandering zombie hunting for food on the near deserted island. Instead of watching it any further, I sighed and looked at Drake.

"No, of course I don't think everyone is like that…" I told him truthfully. "The proof of that is Nathan. He was completely selfless and put others before himself." I smiled as the memories of my deceased lover came to mind, looking back over all of the good memories that we shared together as a couple and even before then. "He wanted to get away from the life of fast pace working and just…needed time to relax. It was why he came here." In an instant, my smile faded and I closed my eyes. "I wish I had the chance to save his life. Maybe…things would be different. We would get off the island - you, me and Nathan - along with the others, and we would start our lives over again. Everything would be back to normal…for the most part…" Drake did not respond, and for some reason it started to worry me. I looked at him, noticing him look down at the palm trees and the beaches below the Lifeguard Tower. He was thinking hard about something important to him. "Drake? What's wrong?" I inquired.

The question he asked made me pause for thought: "Are we really gonna get off this island? Alive?"

No words were able to form in my mind when he finished his question. I felt speechless, unable to find the right words of encouragement. Did I have my doubts about whether or not we were going to escape the island with our lives intact? I mentally slapped myself in the face. How could I react in such a manner? How could I remain silent about such an important question? The first thing I should have said was, "Yes, we are going to get off the island. Don't worry." By staying silent, I was going against everything that an older sister was meant to do: look out for her brother and never give him a sense of doubt in his mind despite the situation. Unfortunately, there was nothing that came to mind, and I could tell it started to worry Drake even though he was as silent as a mouse. Even if I would have said something along the lines of "We'll be alright," though, it did not necessarily mean he would fall for it as quickly as any other child would have done. He was probably thinking the same as I was when I remained silent. To my surprise, he was not on the verge of crying or breaking down; his face was just…straight. In a way, he was waiting for me to say "No."

Sighing, I looked away from him.

"Since I can tell you want me to be honest…" I slowly started. "I…really don't know."

I felt his eyes look at me before he said, "You really don't think we will?"

"It's not that…" I quickly said. "It's just…it's just really hard to say at this point in time." I looked over toward the gate leading into the Lifeguard Tower, noticing the truck driving back in. The others must have returned with the gas for the bodies. I looked up at the sky at the point. "So far, we've gotten no word of help besides that Voice you've been mentioning, but who knows how much help he'll really be?"

"He said we'd have to find a way to him in order for him to help," Drake tried to explain.

I looked back at him, eyes narrowing, and frustratedly said, "Yeah, but he didn't even _tell_ us where he is." I looked out at the ocean once again. "For all we know, he could be fucking with our heads and sitting miles away on a ship, sending us on a wild goose chase just for the sake of having a little fun."

"He wouldn't do that," said Drake in a calmer tone, "because we would have never gotten in contact with him because of the monsoon. Isn't that enough proof that he's here with us?" I pursed my lips a moment before shrugging, muttering a small "Good point." before looking back to find the group pouring the gasoline onto the bodies. "Believe me, I don't trust him just as much as you, but…" I looked at the boy as his chin fell onto his arms. "I just wanna get out of here…away from this place and away from the zombies..."

It was then that something came to mind, something that never really bothered me until that moment in time. I looked up toward the mountains briefly, looking back to last night when I spoke with Logan, when he told me that Drake sent him to see if I was okay. After a moment, I looked at Drake and asked, "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah…?"

I leaned against the railing and said, "Last night, I went up here to give myself a chance to clear my head and figure things out." He did not respond, letting me continue. "Did you, by any chance, send Logan up to check up on me because you were afraid that something was wrong?"

He continued to remain silent for another moment before his head slowly started to turn away. Something told me he was embarrassed to answer, and his voice only proved that point.

"_Noo_…" He muttered, dragging out the "No" a little bit and raising his voice half an octave.

"I know you're lying, Drake," I stated. "You can't fool me."

His eyes shifted before he muttered, "No, I'm not lying…"

"Yes, you are." I pressed. "I know you're lying because 1) you're not looking at me, 2) you're muttering more to yourself, and 3) your voice went up half an octave when you said no the first time." He decided to look at me, but it did not change the fact that he was still lying. "I've known you for a eleven years, plus I'm majoring in psychology. You can't fool me that easily."

He stood up straight, his mismatched eyes remaining on me.

"So…so what if I did?" He questioned. "Is there something wrong with him? Did you not want him there? Should I have sent someone else?"

"No, no, it's none of those things." I looked over toward the others as they started to move the bodies down to the beach. "It's just that…I know that you have a hard time trusting people in general, especially since we're meeting some new people along the way. So…it was a little surprising that you sent someone you barely even know to check on me." I looked at him again to find that he was looking down at the shores of the beach again; there was a distant look in his eyes. "I'm curious as to why?"

He was silent for a long moment, muttering a small "Well…" before going silent again. When a minute passed by, his head raised a little and he said, "For starters, Logan saved your life. He didn't hesitate to do it, either like some of the others, or even question it. He just…did…as if it was second nature." I blinked as I remembered being saved from having my neck torn to pieces by that zombie, a small, almost unnoticeable burst of pain rushing through my neck before dissipating into nothing. "Also…" He paused a moment, "he almost reminds me of Nathan." Before I had the chance to ask him, he looked at me. "I know he'll never be like Nathan in a million years, since he's famous and…well, a womanizer," I smiled a bit at that, "but…he was brave, just like Nathan was."

"How on Earth was Nathan brave?" I inquired, though I knew the answer to that before he even said it.

"It's because Nathan was willing to protect you no matter what," Drake stated. "Even before he knew you as well as he did, he was there to keep you safe from anything." He looked past me and down toward the beach, where the bodies were still being taken and dropped into a pile. "In a way, Logan acted in the same manner. He barely even knows you, and yet he saved your life." He blinked. "Yeah, he's made some mistakes in the past, but…I've learned to not worry about the past." He looked at me this time. "It's what he does afterwards that really says something."

I stared at him for a long moment, relaying the words the young eleven year old spoke, before looking down toward the piling bodies of the dead. He always did have a point when it came to serious cases, especially when it came to trust. He was well aware of the fact that people used one another's trust to get what they wanted, and Drake was one of the few people I knew who rarely - if that word is even appropriate - gave anyone his trust. His family was the only exception for that one reason; we were his family. For Nathan, it took some time - or a few years - to really get anything out of the kid, but when he started to open up they became the best of friends. He saw something in Nathan that he did not see in anyone else. Not even my own friends, who I had known much longer, were able to obtain the trust he had with Nathan. Unfortunately, now that Nathan was gone, he was down on one person to trust with his life. That only got me thinking; even though it was clearly explained, why did it seem like he was starting to trust Logan all of a sudden? Were the reasons Drake mentioned the only reason, or was he starting to become desperate and find a replacement for Nathan? I was unsure, and I was afraid to ask him that question.

"I think I know what you're thinking, Abbey," he suddenly said. I looked over at him, taking note to that distant look in his eyes. "I'm not saying I trust Logan…but…if there was ever a situation I was afraid to get involved in, especially if you're there…I guess he'd be the first one I'd go to." He closed his eyes. "That doesn't mean I'm putting my trust in him. He may very well turn his back on us at any second."

My eyes shifted briefly as my gaze returned to the beach, watching as the last of the bodies were placed in the pile.

"I don't think he'd pull something like that," I stated almost unconsciously.

"Why do you say that?" Drake inquired.

I did not look at him as I answered, "Because, even if he wanted to, he would not gain anything. Just because he's immune to this…disease…doesn't mean he can't get himself killed. He would never be able to find a way to the Voice without guidance." My head lowered a bit. "He may act like a tough guy, even now when all hope seems lost, but deep down…he's scared. Just like the rest of us. Just like…you and I."

It took Drake a moment to speak again, but when he did, he asked the oddest question: "Do you like him?"

I glanced at him for a moment, a curious look in my eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Just answer the question." He stated. "Do you like him?"

Rolling my eyes, I looked down at the beach as the bodies were lit aflame, the smoke rising and bringing with it the stench of the dead rotting bodies. My eyes trailed over the five as they stood there watching as the bodies burned away, before my gaze fell upon Logan. I could not see his expression from the distance, but I could tell he was watching the bodies just like the others.

"Well, since I don't know what you mean, I can't say for sure," I replied. "If you mean as an acquaintance, then I suppose so. I may even like him as friend."

"What about…more than friends?" Drake pressed. I sent him a dull look, to which he said, "Hey, I'm eleven years old. There's still some curiosity left in me."

Smiling, I shook my head and looked back down at the beach, watching the smoke rise.

"I'm pretty sure I don't like him in _that_ way." I answered him. "For starters, we only just met, plus I just lost Nathan. I don't think I'll be looking for a relationship anytime soon." After pausing for a brief moment, I looked at him. "Why are you so curious about that, anyway?"

Drake looked at me as if he were studying my expression before turning around and leaning against the railing with his back.

"You seem really happy…" He said, "when you're with him. Yeah, you talk as if everything's a competition, but you seem happy nonetheless." He looked forward, staring into nothing but space. "Almost like you were with Nathan again."

I blinked before looking back at the beach, only to notice the faint signs that Logan was looking up at us. Just as before, his expression was a mystery, but it was not that hard to tell that he was looking at us. I returned the gaze for a long moment, looking back on Drake's words, before closing my eyes.

"I don't think I'll ever be as happy as I was with Nathan," I replied. "Even I do find someone else, no one will ever compare or even surpass what he and I had."

I sensed Drake begin to walk away as he said, "Now that's a lie."

I quickly looked at him, furrowing my brows.

"How is that a lie?" I questioned.

He stopped a moment before turning his head to look at me. "It's a lie because I know you'll move on. You may say you won't, but that'll just be you lying to yourself."

"I have no reason to move on from Nathan," I retorted, standing up straight. "He was one of the only things that made me feel happy."

"But it'll be your downfall if you stay attached to him…" He paused and looked away. "At least, that's what I've heard." Shaking his head, he looked back at me. "I'm no expert on things like this, but I think it's common sense to figure out that staying in the past isn't safe. You have to look at what you have now before it's gone."

I shook my head frustratedly and turned away from him, placing my hands on the railing and gripping them as if I was ready to kill a zombie.

"That won't happen." I said in a low tone, but it was enough for him to hear. "I don't need anyone else to make me happy. I have you, Nathan, and…and my home." My shoulders relaxed along with my hands. "I don't need anyone or anything else…"

Drake went dead silent, not uttering a single word in response to what I had to spoken. It was as if he was trying to piece together what I meant to say, as if my words had some incomprehensible meaning behind that that he did not know or understand. I knew $otherwise, though. I knew he understood everything that I was trying to say to him, and I could tell that it worried him. He did not have to say anything in order for me to know that. Instead speaking up, I heard him heave a heavy sigh before walking up to me. He did not move to stand next to me just as before, but stopped behind me - I knew this because of his body heat and the sound of his shoes against the hardwood floor approaching me. Once he stopped, it went quiet again, save for the rustling of the trees, and crashing of the waves and the faint crackling of the voice accompanied by the voices of the survivors. It was not an awkward silence, but one that would clearly say that the air was tense yet held some subtle hints of concern or distress.

After another moment of the near stillness of the day, I felt his arms wrap around me, embracing me from behind. It was kind of like those old fashioned movies where that one guy or girl hugs their friend, sibling or lover in order to keep them from going away forever. I did not say anything at first, as I was a bit surprised by the action, but before I could, he spoke up.

"I'm worried that something will happen to you, Abbey," he said, his voice small - a very uncommon characteristic that I thought ceased to exist in him. "I don't wanna lose my sister just because she could not get away from the past. I'd never wish that on anyone." His embrace tightened around me and his face buried into my back. "Please…don't think like that. You have no idea how much it hurts to hear you say such things."

I had no idea what to say in response to that, kind of like what he was doing moments ago. An aching feeling began to well up in my chest, and it was hard not to keep my back to him. Sighing, I slowly turned myself around, Drake keeping the embrace, before returning it. I held him close, like releasing him would result in losing him - again, back to the whole movie thing.

"I'll try not to think of the past, Drake," I assured him, putting on a smile. "For you."

The last thing that came out of his mouth before it went silent again may have been the most truthful thing I had ever heard, and it would forever haunt me: "You're still lying…"


End file.
